


Run Until You Can Touch the Sky

by keykiyoshi7443



Series: Jason Winchester [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Supernatural, Under the Red Hood
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Gen, Sequel, That's right, azazel is the big bad, cursing, hunters being hunters, read my other fic pls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-09-07 23:51:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 34,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8821210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keykiyoshi7443/pseuds/keykiyoshi7443
Summary: In an alternate universe where Jason Todd and Dean Winchester are one and the same.This is an alternate timeline from the story before this and it involves a lot more brotherly relationships and character involvement that wasn't in the other one. This time the Winchesters will be going to Gotham, and all of the Batfamily will be dealing with the Yellow Eyed Demon. This happens a lot earlier in the timeline too.John asks Bobby to look for Dean or where Dean is most likely to go. Bobby manages to find Dean under his new name Jason Todd. The catch is Jason died 2 years before. John enraged that his foster parent didn't do anything to stop his son's death, drags Sam along to go give Bruce a piece of his mind. Then the Y.E.D gets involved and things get messy.





	1. Let's Set the Stage

**Author's Note:**

> yes I did reuse the first 1 1/2 chapters from my other fic. No I am not ashamed. This will be a lot shorter than the one before hopefully. This was made because someone wanted more brotherly relationship. I know I barely included Barbara in the last story, and I basically forgot about Damian and Adam. But in this story all three will make an appearance and actually be a part of the story. I'm sorry if the wait gets long but I actually have 23 other stories that I'm working on so.... 
> 
> Tim and Sam are 16, Jason is 20, Dick and Barbara are 24, and Damian is like 11

Dean had made a mistake. It shouldn’t have changed things but it did. Instead it cost him his family. No it didn’t kill anyone, but they no longer wanted them. It shouldn’t have earned him more than a scolding and extra training. He only went out for an hour, and Sam had been asleep.

Nothing out of the ordinary should have happened. But it did. When he had been out for _only an hour,_ it shouldn’t have mattered, but the thing they were hunting was dangerous. It hunted children and Sam was alone and vulnerable.

In all reality there wouldn’t have been much Dean could have done other than get killed and buy time. But it was like a soldier had abandoned his post. It simply wasn’t acceptable for Dean to go out. For Dean to disobey orders, it was completely unacceptable.

Because Dean was a soldier, and he was only as good as he was at obeying. He wasn’t a child anymore. He was a soldier, a soldier in the never ending war against everything that went bump in the night. They couldn’t afford for him to make mistakes.

He was only 9 years old, and yet he was charged with protecting Sam with his very _life_ if necessary. He shouldn’t have to, every other child his age was worried about what they would be getting for their birthday, while Dean was worried about how he would _survive_ until his next birthday.

He was only 9 years old, but he had been abandoned by his family for a silly little mistake that shouldn’t have mattered. But he left Sam alone, and Sam almost died. In his father’s eyes that was an incorrectable mistake.  His father had scolded him harshly and poor innocent little Dean thought that would be it.

Instead he woke up to find that he had been left behind. When he checked outside of the motel room, the Impala was gone and so were his brother and father. They could have simply gone to get food were it not for the fact that they had taken their packs with them.

Luckily for Dean, his father had left him a bag of clothes and weapons - well weapons that would help him if he had to defend himself against the supernatural or a common thug - and enough money for both transport and food.

It wouldn’t last him long, especially if he planned on getting a bus ticket anywhere, but it would have to do. Dean knew why he had been left behind. He understood that his father was just doing his best to protect Sam, but Dean was his son too. His father should also be trying to protect Dean.

But at least he had been kind enough to leave him some supplies. He could have left him with nothing. Dean could easily try and chase them down, but they could be anywhere. And his father would only be disappointed that he didn’t know when he wasn’t wanted.

Despite what some of his teachers said, Dean was a smart boy. He was good with cars - he had watched his father fix up the Impala more than enough times to understand the basic mechanics of a car. He had learned how to fix cars and developed quite an appreciation for cars.

He knew how to get by and where a homeless kid would attract the least attention. In any of the smaller towns he wouldn’t be able to get a job or a place to stay without questions being asked. He couldn’t draw attention to himself either, that would be just plain stupid.

If there was one thing he had learned from his father, it was that it was always better to be overlooked than to be noticed. It was both easier to gather information and to go unseen. He would have to find a city with a high enough crime rate that he could get away with stealing.

He had picked up on how to pickpocket and on how to steal valuable things. He also knew what was good to sell and where to sell it. That was valuable information and just might be the thing that would get him through the next few months.

Unfortunately the supernatural activity was usually in remote places so he didn’t know much of cities, but there had been the odd case that had been in a big city. In a big city it was easy to be just another face in the crowd, but it was also harder to realize that there was supernatural things going on.

Plus a hunter with two kids - well now he would only have to worry about one - wouldn’t be able to handle a case in a big city. People would get too suspicious and the monster would be more skilled. It would have to be, to hide in plain sight. So Dean hadn’t been to that many big cities.

But he did know of one that had had an incredible crime problem. Gotham was truly an impressive city. It had both common thugs and crime lords. Both rich business guy and the everyday citizen. And they all existed in relative harmony.

But what was also remarkable about Gotham was the fact that it had super heroes and villains. They had visited Gotham only once, his father had thought there had been a large hunt because of all the unusual deaths. But as it turns out it had been a super villain trying to gain the Batman's attention.

They had left soon after, but Gotham seemed to be devoid of supernatural problems. Every sighting of something could be explained as an attack by one of Gotham’s many super villains. His dad made it a point to teach his children that you shouldn’t hurt a human unless you absolutely had too.

They weren’t the monsters that they were tasked with protecting humanity from. That was the police’s job to handle. But Dean had learned a lot in their short stay at Gotham. He learned just how horrible life could be there. He learned what it was like to be on the streets of Gotham.

During his short stay he had made a friend. His name had been Jason Todd and his mother had been a drug addict. His father happened to work with the villain that they thought had been  a supernatural creature.

Dean learned from Jason that all things concerned, he had a pretty good life. He didn’t have to worry about his father coming home drunk and beating him like Jason had had to. He didn’t have to worry about his mom overdosing or being attacked by a dealer looking for money.

Jason had had to steal and work to make sure that he had enough money to get by. It was Jason that had taught Dean how to live on the streets, and Dean couldn’t help but feel grateful. It would help him a great deal when surviving on the streets.

And so Dean Winchester traveled to Gotham and managed to survive on the streets. He had originally wanted to meet up with Jason, only to learn that he had been killed by an overdose. His neighbours had secretly gotten rid of the bodies so as not to draw attention to their particular location.

Though it wouldn’t have mattered much to the police. So many people died in Gotham on a daily basis that they didn’t even bother to count, let alone find out people’s names. This would work out in Dean’s favour. He couldn’t just go as Dean Winchester anymore, going by your real name is what gets you killed.

But no one really remembers poor little Jason Todd anymore. Dean chose to use his late friend’s name and history to hide within the streets to get by. It was better for people to think that he was a drug addicted woman’s son than for him to be traced back to his father.

His father still went by John Winchester and he couldn’t risk one day getting caught and having his criminal activities pinned on his father. It would hinder him in his hunt and Dean knew that his father would be greatly disappointed in him for doing a sloppy job with his cover up.

And that’s how Dean lived for a time. Living as Jason Todd and learning the city, stealing when he needed money and simply living. He didn’t give up on training, he knew it was unlikely that his father would ever return to Gotham, or that a creature would chose this cursed city as its home, but he wanted to be prepared.

He also needed to be strong enough to fight off any criminal and street thug that thought they could get in his way. Everything was going fine until the day that he got a little too bold. He had come across the Batmobile and thought he’d caught the prize of a lifetime.

The tires would easily sell for a thousand each - he’d probably be able to make enough money to actually find decent shelter for the first time in what seemed like forever. He grinned to himself as he set to work.

It should have gone fine. But then the Bat himself had shown up. “What do you think you’re doing” the menacing figure of Batman growled. Trying to act unfazed by the fact that he had been caught Dean simply replied with “What does it look like, wise guy. I’m stealing your tires”

He figured that going for sarcastic street rat might work in his favour. But the Bat only seemed to be more angered by his statement. “And what” he begins in a low voice “makes you think you can get away with that?”

Dean shrugs, he doesn’t really know himself. He sets his tire iron down and turns to face Batman fully. “Well, you weren’t here and hey!” he says “a kid's gotta eat to live and unfortunately I gotta steal to eat.” He smirked up at the dark figure.

Dean was completely and utterly terrified but he tried his best not to let it show. Never let the enemy know just how afraid you are. You can’t reveal just how weak you were. But since when was Batman the enemy? “You will put the tires back on, little boy” the Batman said gruffly.

“And then I’ll take you back to your place to have a talk with your parents.” he said. Dean couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Was this guy serious? “And what makes you think that I actually have a place to stay” he accused “I’m stealing tires for a reason. My parents have been gone for a long time mister so I’m afraid that you don’t have anyone you’re gonna be able to talk too”

He mentally slaps himself at the slip up. Just great, now he would probably end up taking him to some stupid orphanage. Despite that very real possibility, he still set to work on reattaching the two wheels that he had managed to remove.

He had a feeling that if he didn’t follow orders he would be in much more trouble than he already was in. Best to try and do some damage control. His sass was clearly as unappreciated with the hero as it was with his father.

Batman was silent for a while. Dean had managed to reattach one of the tires and was working on the second before he responded. “What’s your name kid?” he asked. Dean thought about lying with a third name before responding with “Jason Todd”

He was the great Bat after all, if he wanted to he would find out eventually, plus it would put him in better graces with the Bat if he at least attempted to be truthful. But he definitely wouldn’t give his real name away. He hadn’t used it in so long that it actually seemed a bit distant to him.

He lived and breathed as Jason Todd now, Dean Winchester was simply a bad memory. There was no point in bringing up the past if it wasn’t necessary. It was unlikely that Batman would care anyway. He was just like any other street rat out there.

The only difference was that he was braver. He had seen a lot worse than the common street thug. He had fought worse, there was no reason for him to be afraid of them. It was only logical that he would end up taking bigger risks than any other homeless brat.

He finished with the last tire and made a move to leave when Batman began to speak again. “I’m going to take you to someone who can look after you” he said suddenly. It was out of the blue and completely random. There was no reason why Batman would ever do this.

He probably ran into hundreds of homeless children on his rounds of the city, so why was Dean any different. Sure he might be the only one to try and take the Batmobile’s tires, but that didn’t seem like something that would make Batman notice him.

At most he should have simply left him to run off to wherever he would be staying for the night. Maybe even throw him a bone with a couple of dollars. The man was funded by the Bruce Wayne. He probably had funds to spare.

“Aw hell no” Dean said “no way are you taking me to some foster place. I’m too old for the system, no one would want me anyway. Plus I’d just wander off and end up on the streets again.” He continued flippantly. Attempting to put on an indifferent mask on.

He was only halfway successful and Batman saw right through it. Dean was nervous, even the cold dark knight could tell. “No, I won’t take you to a foster place.” Dean glared at him briefly before turning to walk a little closer to the Batmobile.

Better not be the police station either. I’ll have you know that I’m very capable of breaking out if you do.” He said as he walked to the Batmobile and jumped in. Batman could only shake his head before following the kid. ‘He’s something else’ Batman thought.

And that was the start of a beautiful partnership. Jason had been taken to live with Bruce Wayne and eventually became the second Robin. Jason excelled at it, drawing on his previous years of training as a hunter to aid his fighting style.

Dick had been an acrobat so his fighting style was long distance focused on agility. Jason was raised as a hunter and then a street kid, he didn’t fight fair and it was very weapon and hand to hand oriented.

He excelled at close combat, but if it involved guns (John wasn’t a big fan of sword or anything of the sort - well unless it is to fight vampires) he was very capable of working with them. As soon as Batman had learned this - Jason had taken one of the police’s handguns and had shot the Joker in the knee before he could escape - he had immediately taken measures to make sure that Jason knew not to use guns.

His shot wasn’t even fatal, but since he didn’t want to piss off his first decent father figure, he refrained from using guns. As it was Bruce was disappointed in his fighting style. He was too violent and didn’t show much mercy when delivering his blows.

He wasn’t a kind fighter because he knew that anyone else wouldn’t show him the same mercy despite the fact that he was a child. Despite the slight unease that Bruce had concerning Jason’s fighting style and slightly messed up sense of justice, Bruce cared deeply for Jason.

He treated him like a son, and not like a soldier, he was the father that Dean had always wanted. Jason still enjoyed the thrill of the hunt, the only difference was what he hunted. They were both monsters in their own rights, but these ones hurt way more people than the supernatural has.

With the supernatural it goes anywhere from 1 to a couple hundred deaths at most. These villains take out hundreds easily in mere hours after escape. To Jason they were much more dangerous than any supernatural creature.

And that’s how things were for a while, the constant routine. Bruce had forced Jason to attend Gotham Academy so that he could have a good education, and surprisingly enough Jason excelled at it.

When he traveled with John he never cared about school because he would just end up leaving in a couple weeks anyway. But that was Dean and now he was Jason. Jason loved to learn and despite his hatred for stuck up rich brats, he did well in school.

Jason had never had the chance to enjoy school, so he took every chance he could now. Of course, his personality still got in the way and had him labeled delinquent very fast. But he did well grade wise, so Bruce didn’t think it was that bad.

He mostly got in trouble for protecting other students from bullying anyway. The principal just turned a blind eye to everything the bullies ever did simply because they were rich. He was such a pushover and Jason didn’t hesitate to tell him that.

That was another thing that he kept getting in trouble for, talking back. It had started at a young age, he was overcompensating for not protesting at all when John gave orders, and unfortunately it stayed with him.

Though slowly but surely, Bruce was beginning to get him to think for himself in the battle field instead of waiting for orders. He knew how to fight on his own and compensate for any variables, but he still tended to hesitate every now and then waiting for orders.

Sometimes it was good as it helped Bruce make sure he didn’t kill anyone, and he had come awful close on some occasions. The routine of going to school in the day and looking after Gotham at night went well for a while. They had fought together for 5 years when something changed.

Jason had thought he’d left the hunting world behind. That that part of his life was over. That he wouldn’t ever have to deal with the supernatural, because for some odd reason it seems that Gotham was a dead zone for supernatural things. Whether it was because someone else took care of it before anyone noticed or the monsters were just that good at blending in with the scum of Gotham, he didn’t know.

But then came the appearance of Sheila Haywood. Who she was wasn’t important. It was the reason she appeared that was. He had been on patrol one night when she’d appeared around the corner. She didn’t fit it, she was wearing a doctor’s coat, and she simply looked too put together to ever pass as a lower Gotham resident.

Then he saw her eyes when she got closer, and he immediately stiffened. They were pitch black. Only one creature did this that he knew of; demons. “What are you doing here” he growled. She smirked at him and got closer, not in the least deterred by the fact that he was holding a batarang at the ready.

“Don’t you want to find out what happened to your mother?” she asked snidely as she sauntered over to him and rested against the wall. He wiped all emotion from his face, this was obviously a trap and she thought he was naïve enough to fall for it. She must be laying a trap for young head strong Jason Todd who was orphaned at a young age.

Well she had a surprise coming for her because he couldn’t give a rat’s ass about Jason Todd’s birth mother. She could go suck a dick. “Well she’s dead so…” he snarked, hoping to throw her off, but the demon merely rolled her eyes and scoffed.

“I’m not talking about Jason Todd’s mother you idiot. I’m talking about Mary Winchester, and the little demon boy she died trying to save.” She said. Now this got his attention. She knew who he really was. She wasn’t here for Jason Todd, she was here for Dean Winchester. It had been a while since anyone had connected him to Dean Winchester.

Like previously mentioned, he’d thought that this was all behind him.

“What do you know about my mother?” he demanded. Curse his stupid curiosity. There was no way that he could let her go now that he knew she had answers for him. It was probably one of his biggest weaknesses, the need to know _why_. It was something he’d noticed in Bruce too, although he had a much better handle on it.

“Not so fast baby Winchester. I’m not going to tell you _anything_ right now. No, if you want to find out why the Azazel killed your mother then you’re going to have to do something for _me_.” She purred, knowing she’d caught him in her trap. He cursed quietly under his breath as he weighed his options. What was he supposed to do? What _could_ he do?

“Fine.”

Her grin was absolutely poisonous as she leaned closer. “In a couple of weeks, the Joker is going to run and you and ‘Batman’ will have to separate. The Joker is going to feed you some lines about knowing something about your birth mother and you’re gonna run after him like a good little boy. You’re going to let him capture you. Then he will bring you to me, and you will get your answers.”

That was one of the fishiest things he’s ever heard in his life and he dealt with criminals who try and hide their shit for a living. He knew what Bruce and Dick would say, they wouldn’t ever let him give himself up like this. He shouldn’t do it, but the offer was just so tempting. What could he do but accept? He nodded briefly at her before turning and scaling a nearby building intent on continuing his patrol as if this had never happened. Sheila Haywood faded back into the shadows and into the back of his mind as more important things came to the fore front of his life.

Like that English essay that was due the next day that he hadn’t even started. And he had to submit it online… the horror.

He did in fact forget about the deal he’d struck with the demon up until that fateful day in Ethiopia when they were chasing the Joker and he said “if you want to see your birth mother alive ever again then you’ll play by the rules little bird!” as he ran away. That was definitely the signal.

And despite every vibe he was getting from this, he broke away from Batman where he was surrounded by goons (most likely possessed goons now that he thought about it) and ran after the Joker. There was no turning back now. All or nothing.

And all or nothing it certainly was. As expected it was a trap and there was nothing in it for him. Upon arriving at the warehouse he was immediately attacked by the Joker. He didn’t really stand a chance, the Joker was stronger than he ever remembered and the blows of the crowbar were devastating. Sheila Haywood just sat in the corner and watched as Jason was beat to death.

“Tell Batman I said ‘hello’ and don’t forget to do your homework!” The Joker cackled as he walked away from Jason’s broken form. His eyes flashed a bright yellow for a brief moment before he closed the door and sealing him in, all the while cackling sinisterly.

“Sorry Dean. But we can’t have you getting in the way. It’s nothing personal!” The demon who had possessed Sheila said gleefully. “Ciao!” then she proceeded to leave the corpse of the woman who used to be a doctor who worked across the borders, and went back to where she came from.

And that’s when he noticed the ticking bomb that was in the center of the room, only visible because Sheila’s body – which had been sitting on it – had fallen and lay slumped on the floor.

He cried out in anguish, he was left alone to die and there was no way that he was going to be able to survive this. Batman wasn’t coming to save him and _oh god he was going to die_. He was only 14 and he was going to be blown up. There wouldn’t be any more late night bonding sessions with Dick or patrol with Bruce. There wouldn’t be any more study sessions with Barbara or hiding out in the kitchen with Alfred during galas.

He was going to die, and he was going to die _alone_.

How was he supposed to feel about that? What was he supposed to do?

 _There was nothing he could do_.

And that’s what it came down to. He was going to die in – oh god _1 minute left_ – and there wouldn’t be anyone to comfort him. He was already beginning to feel the effects of blood loss and all he could do was stare at the red counter as it sealed his fate. He closed his eyes and thought back to memories long since lost.

He remembered his mother’s smile, and the way that she’d laugh whenever he made a horrible joke or pun. And that was the last thought he had before his world was shattered and all he could feel was fire.

 

* * *

 

And the rest is history. Jason woke up in his coffin and dug himself out. He spent a year walking around lower Gotham in a zombie like state and then he was ‘rescued’ by none other than Talia Al’Ghul, the current leader of the League of Shadows. He didn’t quite remember what happened during that year, nor the first year he was with the League. But every memory after the Lazarus pit was as clear as if it had just happened.

He remembered every injustice he suffered at their hands as well as every piece of information they’d brainwashed him with. It was rather confusing. He remembered all that Bruce and Dick had done for him when they first found him, and it greatly contradicted what the League told him.

They told him he’d been replaced _6 months_ after he’d died. They told him that Bruce hadn’t even bothered to kill the Joker. He knew that it wasn’t _really_ the Joker that killed him, but the Joker should still have died long ago. He’d killed so many, Jason’s death should have been the tipping point.

But apparently not because he’d just been shoved right back in his comfy cell that he’d no doubt escape from yet again. It just wasn’t fair. Did Bruce not care at all? Wasn’t that what someone did when someone they loved died? Kill the person who killed them? At least track them down and make them pay.

It’s what John had been trying to do ever since his mother had died.

Did he really mean so little?

He spent another year with the League learning all he could before he went back to Gotham now 17 years old. He then spent another year becoming the Red Hood and fighting his former family, all the while hunting down the Joker. If Bruce wasn’t planning on taking revenge then he was. Even if the Joker had been possessed, Jason knew that the Joker was just itching for something to tip the scales in his favour.

Killing a Robin would certainly accomplish that.

As soon as Dick had discovered that he was in fact his formerly dead brother, he didn’t leave him alone. Constantly pestered him about coming back, saying that all could be forgiven if he just _came back_. But at the time Jason didn’t want forgiveness. What he wanted was for the Joker to be dead and for him to be avenged.

Damian came when he was 19 and things had gotten lot more complicated. Suddenly he wasn’t the only one who was the black sheep. There was someone who knew the world like he did. Someone who was as jaded as he’d been at his age.

In the end, it was Damian who brought him back into the fold. He rejoined the Batclan because he couldn’t leave Damian in a completely new world to brave it alone. Bruce and the others, they didn’t understand. They could never understand what it was like in the League. And to Damian they were simply foolish, but they’d never understand why.

Jason had walked amongst both words and come out better for it. He was Damian’s best bet and he wasn’t going to abandon a _10 year old_. Bruce had saved him, it was time to pay that favour forward. He was going to help give that boy the life that he never got to have.

If he got his way, then Damian wouldn’t die until he was well and ready to. Until he had lived his life. Because dying sucked big time.

It took another year for Jason to agree to move back into the manor. As soon as he’d agreed, they’d all immediately gone to the manor to celebrate. They’d all just come back from patrol, but Bruce had stayed in the cave for a bit longer to finish some reports. When he’d returned from the cave, it had been to a rather interesting sight.

Jason and Dick were rolling around on the floor and wrestling like two normal brothers would. Bruce noticed that Jason had been rather lax with taking care of his hair, as some blond roots were beginning to show amongst the black and white strands. Tim was sitting on the couch watching his two foolish brothers and delicately sipping at a hot chocolate all the while claiming that he wasn’t raised like a baboon unlike the elder two.

Just as Bruce had arrived, Dick had gained the upper hand and now had Jason in a headlock and was tickling him mercilessly. Bruce couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Jason laugh like that. For the past 3 years all he did was scowl or sneer.

Damian sat to the side and glared at all of them for being ‘children’ and ‘uncivilized’. Jason and Dick exchanged a look briefly before they simultaneously launched themselves at Damian and proceed to gang up on him. Not stopping in their assault until Damian was shrieking in laughter. Bruce smiled as he came to sit beside Tim, accepting the hot drink that Alfred handed him with a gentle smile.

It was nice to have all of the family together again.

Alfred looked on in amusement for a moment at all of his charges before leaving the room and beginning to finish his duties for the day. He had just finished dusting the entry way once more when there was a knock on the door. Alfred frowned – this was no time for visitors – no one ever knocked on the Wayne estate door. It simply didn’t happen.

He cautiously walked towards the door and opened it. He was greeted by a middle aged man carrying a sawed off shot gun with a tall teen behind him. The teen looked uncomfortable here, but he was determined, as if he was determined to follow the man in front of him anyway. The man angrily pointed the shot gun at Alfred before speaking with a rough gravelly voice.

“My name is John Winchester, and Jason Todd was _my son_.”


	2. The Road So Far

Now looking back on it, John can honestly admit that it was a stupid idea. But he was just so _angry._ Angry at Dean for not protecting Sam like he was supposed to, angry that he couldn’t afford to give his children the childhood they should have had, angry that the world had taken away the one light in his life. So yeah, he was angry. Was that really a surprise?

He’d been running on rage for a long time now. He was used to it. But something about the way that Dean just _looked_ that night made him see red. Then he made what was probably the biggest mistake in his life. He left his kid behind. How could he do that? That’s so messed up but he’d done it. Father of the year or what?

The morning after he instantly regretted it, but he had to stand his ground. Maybe spending a couple days on his own would straighten Dean out. He hadn’t been listening to a lot of orders lately after all. Maybe this was what he needed. A good reminder of the consequences.

So he stayed away for a day or two, telling Sammy that Dean was fine. But the problem was, that when he came back there was no Dean. His kid had just packed up and left. That little shit had actually been gullible to believe something that he’d said out of rage? He’d need to teach Dean better when he found him again.

At that time, he wasn’t really worried, just angry that Dean had been an idiot. He checked all the places that he knew of that Dean would most likely go, but he found nothing. Not a trace of Dean what so ever anywhere. He figured that Dean had just run off and was living with Bobby so he would be fine. He stopped the search for a bit, fully believing he knew where his kid was.

But the moment that he started getting worried was about a month later when he checked in with Bobby – seeing how Dean was coping with everything and if he was ready to come back – only to find out that Dean had never been at Bobby’s. He hadn’t even checked in with Bobby.

That’s when the gravity of the situation actually began to sink in. Dean wasn’t coming back. His kid – who was so much like his mother sometimes it hurt to look at him – was gone. And he wasn’t coming back. It was hard to wrap his head around, and he’d gotten plenty drunk trying to accept the facts. He’d screwed up and now his kid could be dead, lying in a ditch maybe.

Now he’d have to raise Sam while doing hunts all on his own. In the past he’d been able to count on Dean to look after the baby so that he could focus on making enough cash to get by while he hunted _something._ Never mind the fact that Dean had only been 9 years old. The kid was more than responsible enough to look after a kid.

 _And yet Sam had almost been killed because Dean couldn’t handle it_.

And wasn’t that a slap in the face. At first he thought he could handle it. A 9 year old had done it, really how hard could it be? But then he discovered just how bad it could be when Sam would just _not shut up_. Most of the time he had no idea what the kid was even trying to say – _Dean should have taught him to speak better_ – but about half the time it was questions about Dean.

Dean, Dean, Dean, _Dean._ Day in day out. ‘Dad where’s Dean?’ ‘Dad, when’s Dean coming back?’ Sam never stopped asking about Dean no matter how many times John tried to make him forget his older brother. It should have been easier than this. Sam was still at an impressionable age, he should have taken better to training than Dean had.

But if anything he was worse. Way worse. It was almost ridiculous how much Sam seemed to _hate_ their life. You’d think the kid would be grateful that he was still alive, or even feel important because he was saving people. But no. Sam just wanted to be _normal_. He’d never had these kinds of problems with Dean.

Dean had always been eager to please, doing his best to follow John’s instructions even when he knew he couldn’t do it. That foolhardy kid bit off too much.

Sometimes he missed his son, but then he remembers how annoying the kid could be. Never followed orders properly, always making his own decisions believing that he knew better. The kid had been so stupid that he’d taken something that John had said in a fit of rage to heart. Honestly if he’d had a smarter kid then he wouldn’t even be in this situation!

Sometimes he wonders what Dean’s doing now. _But then he remembers he’s not supposed to care anymore_.

Things managed to get even harder when Sam got older. It had taken a while to get Sam to even accept that demons and monsters were real, but it had taken even longer to convince him to actually go on a hunt and pull his weight. The kid had some bizarre idea that if he was useless on a hunt that John would stop taking him. He finally wised up when he almost got killed by a vampire.

When he put actual effort into it, he was a natural. For a moment, John was proud. But Sam wasn’t the action guy. He did what he had to do, but sometimes John would catch him looking longingly at those fancy schools or researching things that were decidedly _not_ about the hunt when he was at the library.

He had brushed it off as a simple phase for most of Sam’s early teens. But Sam got more challenging the farther he got into high school. He talked back and complained and complained and complained about how they could never be normal. The brat should be grateful he was even still going to school!

They fought more and more – usually about Sam’s idea of that perfect normal life that he was always chasing – and soon they couldn’t even be in the same room without fighting. It was a nightmare. Things were difficult and Sam was _still_ asking about Dean.

Couldn’t he take a hint?

But John was beginning to think that maybe it _was_ time to check up on his wayward son. (Maybe if he could find him _he_ could find a way to convince Sam to continue hunting instead of chasing his stupid dreams). So he went to Bobby. He hadn’t talked to the old hunter since that phone call that had made him aware that Dean was not in fact, living with him.

But Bobby was his best shot at trying to find Dean. _And wasn’t it sad that he hadn’t even tried this hard at first?_ But even though the trail was old, Dean hadn’t done a good enough job at covering his tracks and they were able to find where he’d gone all those years ago. It turns out that he’d gone to Gotham in some vain attempt to leave the supernatural behind.

Two kids that refused to be hunters. _Two_. What were the odds?

He’d changed his name to Jason Todd and lived as a street rat for a bit before he was adopted by none other than Bruce Wayne. There were a lot of newspapers to go through with stories about Jason Todd, and there were an equal amount of police reports about the kid too.

After reading a couple he couldn’t help but sneer. Not only was Sam a bookworm, but it appears that Dean excelled at school as well. He apparently did well enough to end up being transferred to a foreign country for a year to study other things. He didn’t really read that specific report too much. Instead he focused on the next time that Jason Todd’s name splashed the front page.

He didn’t have to go that far to find out how that exchange trip went. Apparently he’d been jumped and murdered. It had created quite the fuss and Bruce Wayne had seemed heartbroken. The police autopsy report showed that he had been beaten to death with a crowbar. _A crowbar_. John Winchester felt his blood boil as he looked at the police reports and the pictures of _his_ son.

He wasn’t Bruce Wayne’s. That rich bastard had no claim, no right to grieve. That was _his_ kid! But he couldn’t even focus on the fact that Dean had been killed, no, what bothered him the most was that it had happened over 6 years ago and he’d had no idea. That wasn’t right.

Then the anger that had fueled him for so long shifted to a new target. It was Bruce Wayne’s fault that his kid was dead. If he had taken better care of him then Dean would still be alive. If he’d just kept him in Gotham then Dean wouldn’t have even had the opportunity to be beaten to death.

And with that thought in his mind he set off to Gotham, dragging Sam with him. He was going to give this Bruce Wayne a piece of his mind. It didn’t matter how important he was – consequences be damned – he was going to make him pay.

 

* * *

 

Alfred looked between the shot gun, the child, and the man before him for a moment, eye filled with disinterest. This wasn’t even close to the most threatening person he’d seen and if this man thought that Alfred would be scared then he was in for quite the surprise. “Sir, if you could put the gun down and be civilized for a moment then I’m sure that Mr. Wayne would love to hear you out.” He said stiffly with a clear look of disdain.

John glared at him before roughly shoving past him into the manner, not at all caring what Alfred would do. The teen behind him ducked his head and followed his father, sending an apologetic look at the butler. Alfred closed the door and mentally prepared himself for dealing with the spat that was sure to follow.

He followed John as he stormed towards where the sounds of laughter and cheer were coming from, correctly assuming that that was where Bruce and his children would be. He went storming into the room, gun drawn and steam practically shooting out of his ears. “Where is Bruce Wayne?” He growled menacingly as he aimed the shot gun at the teens wrestling on the floor.

Almost simultaneously, the bat boys’ eyes widened as they all. They froze for a moment, then 3 out of the 4 eyes were moving. Tim’s went to Bruce – to see what he was planning and how they should react, Damian’s went to Sam – seeing how he was reacting to all of this and probably deciding how difficult he’d be to take out, and Jason’s went up to John’s face – immediately identifying him and paling considerably.

Dick’s eyes remained trained on the gun, poised to move to protect his younger brothers at a seconds notice. Bruce merely sat up a bit straighter and stared the gun man down. He didn’t bother pulling his air headed appearance. This was a real threat, and it would be handled as such.

He could claim that he’d had his kids take some self-defense because of all the kidnappings if this event got out to the press. But worst comes to worst Bruce was pretty confident that Jason could take care of it. He hated to encourage any of Jason’s more dark tendencies, but he knew enough about the Lazarus Pit to understand that sometimes Jason’s rage just couldn’t be curved.

Damian had killed plenty of people when he had lived with Talia. If he could forgive Damian he could forgive Jason. And he understood now, that some criminals were just better off dead. It was sometimes kinder. But that didn’t mean he’d ever do it himself. He could never bring himself to kill, because once he killed one he’d kill them all.

No he much preferred hospitalizing them and permanently damaging them.

But if push came to shove and this gun man somehow discovered something he shouldn’t have, then it would be taken care of one way or another. “I’m Bruce Wayne?” Bruce began, putting on a slight tone of confusion into his voice. He wasn’t going to take this threat lightly, but he also wasn’t just going to give the gunman answers. “And you are? I can’t remember doing anything to upset anyone lately.”

Alfred stared at him highly unimpressed from behind the two strangers. Just last night Bruce had been reckless enough to piss Alfred off. He knew what he was saying was a lie. Bruce smiled his sheepish Bruce Wayne smile before making eye contact with John once more.

“My name is John Winchester,” he growled threateningly, pointing his gun at the billionaire. “And you killed my son.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like how nothing actually happened. I'm great at writing?


	3. Here We Go

_“My name is John Winchester,” he growled threateningly, pointing his gun at the billionaire. “And you killed my son.”_

 

* * *

 

Bruce raised an eyebrow in confusion. He knew for 100% sure that he was not directly responsible for any kid’s death. This man seemed to have no idea that he was Batman, so it couldn’t be that he just didn’t make it in time to save a kid. He leaned forward, intrigued to see what would happen next.

During this entire exchange, the bat boys had been subtly moving apart and getting into position to attack or protect. But they froze when John uttered the next phrase. “His name was Jason Todd. If you even remember him, I seem to remember you taking another kid under your wing not 6 months after.”

Dick and Tim’s eyes immediately flickered over to look at Jason who had an expression mixed with disbelief, anger, and something they couldn’t quite decipher. Damian’s eyes remained fixed on the kid behind John Winchester, while Dick began to subtly move in front of Jason in a protective manner.

“It’s been 10 years.” Bruce said finally. “Willis* Todd died in prison 10 years ago and Jason died _6 years_ ago. Why are you only coming now?” he demanded, weary of the man in front of him.

“Jason Todd wasn’t always his name, he used to be my son. Dean Winchester. And _you_ are the reason he’s dead. It’s taken me this long to finally track him down after he ran away, and I come back to find out that he got killed.” John said angrily.

That’s when Jason had had enough. “You dare come here after all this time? You _dare_ say that I ran away?” he demanded, pushing Dick aside so that he could get into John’s face and practically spit at him. John stared at him for a second, before recognition dawned on his face.

“D-Dean?” he nearly whispered as he stared in shock at his supposedly dead son.

Jason glared at him with a fury that they’d only ever seen in his interactions with the Joker. “You up and abandoned me! You never came looking and I had to survive on my own! And it’s Jason!” he growled as he pulled out one of his guns from seemingly nowhere – Dick was puzzled as to where he even got that from because he’d been tickling him and he hadn’t felt it anywhere – and proceeded to pull John’s arms behind his back, forcing him to drop his gun to the floor, and placing his gun under John’s chin with the safety off.

Damian scurried forward and grabbed the gun before Sam could pick it up. Then he began to check the gun with an expert eye that a ten year old son of a billionaire should definitely not have. He unloaded the gun to discover salt rounds. He tossed one over to Tim and the other to Dick, who both caught them without breaking eye contact with John of Sam respectively.

“Now, what are you really doing here? I know that you didn’t care enough about me to actually try and avenge my death, so what were you hoping to gain?” he said in a mocking lilting tone similar to how he addressed the Joker.

Before John could respond, Sam tried to lunge forward to free his father, but Tim was faster. In the blink on an eye, he had Sam in a very similar hold to what Jason was using on John, but instead of a gun there was a knife. He had Sam pressed to the floor and was leaning his body weight on the teen so that he was able to use the hand not holding the knife.

Tim held up the salt round so that Bruce could see before speaking. “It’s rock salt. Now that’s a weird thing to threaten a billionaire with. I believe, Mr. Winchester, that you have an awful lot of explaining to do.” Jason dug the tip on the gun into John’s jaw as he waited for a response.

John’s eyes shifted to where Tim had his younger son pinned to the floor and was staring at him with an incredibly calculating gaze. Sam tried to shift to escape, seeing that Tim was distracted, but Tim merely pressed him harder into the floor without even seeming to notice. But it was Tim, so of course he noticed.

“You hunters?” John asked instead of giving an answer. Dick cocked his head to the side and stared at John for a moment before walking closer. He crushed the salt round in his hand before answering in a very cryptic manner that was rather uncharacteristic of both Nightwing and Dick Grayson. But this man had apparently abandoned his little brother and had threatened his family, Dick’s mama bear side was rearing his head.

And that’s when he was the most dangerous. “It depends on what you think we’re hunting. Now you’re the one at a serious disadvantage, you shouldn’t be the one asking questions.” Dick said as he stared piercingly at the elder Winchester.

John looked highly unsettled. “Dean was dead, I read the coroner’s report. He shouldn’t be alive right now… What did you do?” Silly John, never ever did the easy thing. Always had to challenge those that were in a position to kill him. But John had revealed too much right now, so after exchanging a quick glance with Tim, they both knocked out their respective hostages.

Letting John crumple to the floor, he turned to face his family. “I have a lot of explaining to do, right?” he said in a slightly defeated tone, feeling all of their gazes on him.

“That would be nice.” Dick said simply.

 

* * *

 

Jason sighed as he sat in front of his adoptive family. His biological father and brother sat in the corner, tied up with wire that Bruce usually saved for the Joker, so they were unlikely to be able to escape. They had removed anything that could be used as a weapon (deferring to Damian for advice on this considering he was able to find a way to make a cotton ball a weapon – they weren’t taking any chances with these ‘unknowns’).

But now it was time for answers, and Jason honestly wanted to kill John. Not only did he have to ruin his life when he was a child (living on the road and scamming may not seem like a great life, but living in Crime Alley was infinitely worse than that life could ever be), but he had to come back and wreck what little of his life he’d managed to put back together? Utterly ridiculous. This stuck up bastard thought that he could just come back into his life like this?

And how on earth was he meant to explain any of this? It was insane! And his family was vigilantes. He sighed again before looking wearily at his brothers. “So… what do you guys want to know?” he asked in an incredibly resigned tone. Tim, never the one to give up the chance to get information, immediately jumped at the chance to ask questions.

“Who are they and how are they connected to you? What did you mean that they abandoned you? Why were they threatening us with rock salt of all things?” He asked in rapid succession. Seeing that no one else was going to interject with other questions yet, Jason sighed and prepared to answer. Of course his family couldn’t leave well enough alone. Goddamn it.

“Well, as far as I know,” he began, rubbing his forehead tiredly as he thought about how to phrase this to make them not want to ask any other questions. “Their names are John and Sam Winchester. As to who they are to me, well I suppose you could say that they’re my biological family.” He gazed steadily at the floor and dropped the third bombshell. “And as for the rock salt, well we- _they’re_ hunters. And they hunt the supernatural.” He internally cringed at his slip up.

Bruce frowned at his answers. He had to admit, that he left them more questions than answers, which wasn’t really working in his favour. “But Willis Todd was your father… And Catherine Todd as well as Sheila Haywood was your mother… how is this possible? You went off and _died_ for someone who wasn’t your biological mother?” He muttered mostly to himself, although he was looking rather funnily at the Winchesters.

“Hunting the supernatural?” Damian demanded confused. Tim was grumbling under his breath about how those weren’t satisfactory answers and Dick looked almost as done as Jason felt. Tonight was supposed to be something to celebrate, now it was just a pain in the ass because of his own goddamned past coming back to bite them all in the butt.

“Jason, how about you start at the beginning and we’ll ask questions from there.” Dick suggested calmly. It seemed as good a suggestion as any, and it would make things a lot easier to explain. Even if… he really didn’t want them involved there wasn’t much he could really do. They were Gotham’s vigilante family and they’ve been a part of the Justice League for years. This wouldn’t be the first time they dealt with the supernatural, but it would be the first time they really knew just how many things they thought were fake were real.

“Well, it all started when I was 4 years old,” he began, completely ignoring Damian rolling his eyes at how long a story this was going to be. That brat had refused to marathon Disney movies with him, serves him right. “Sam was just 6 months old when something really strange occurred and our mother was killed in very strange circumstances. I remember it almost as well as I remember my own death.”

“She was on the ceiling with a massive gut wound. And then the room caught on fire and the house burned down. We lived on the road for years after that, and it wasn’t until I was 9 that things changed. You see, my dad had become obsessed with finding the creature that killed her. He’s known as Azazel, or the yellow eyed demon. And so he started hunting anything and everything that went bump in the night.”

He didn’t even bother looking up at them after these revelations. Damian wouldn’t care because it didn’t really seem all that bad compared to what he’d seen, Tim was just absorbing all the new information like a sponge and Dick was looking at him worriedly. He’d been overly protective ever since Jason had come back from the dead, probably in overcompensation for the fact that he’d acted like he’d resented him when he was Robin.

“But I was watching Sam one night and he almost got killed by what Da- John was hunting. He flipped and he left me behind. Then I went to Gotham and assumed the identity of a street kid who’d gotten himself killed a couple months before. I’d met him once a couple years before so I knew his backstory well enough to make it my own. Then the rest is history. I survived on the streets, tried to steal some tires, and got hired.”

Tim frowned in confusion, “but what about… how you died. Bruce always said you’d run off because you’d found your real mom and you wanted to meet her. But the Joker had her captive and

“I really didn’t want you guys to get any more involved than you are now, but it’s a little too late for that right now. John’s here and there was demonic interference in my death. The supernatural world isn’t exactly letting me leave and it’s going to drag you into it too.” He warned them. But they all still looked eager to know about it. He grumbled slightly but continued his explanation anyway.

“Well, one night when I was out on my shift, I was approached by a demon. She was working for the yellow eyed demon, and she offered me a deal. All I needed to do to get information on my mother was to go to Ethiopia. Alone. Of course I made that mistake – John never told me anything and I just wanted to know what he ruined my life for – and I got killed by the Joker. The thing was, the Joker was possessed by the Y.E.D.” he explained. “Bruce you might have noticed how the Joker was just a bit more unhinged after my death. Well, being possessed by a demon is not the easiest thing.”

Then Jason pulled down the collar of his shirt to reveal his collar bones and a bit of his shoulder. Dick grimaced at the sight of the top of his autopsy scar, but his eyes were quickly drawn to a strange black symbol that was tattooed onto his shoulder. “You have a tattoo?!?!” Tim asked scandalized at that. Jason just stared at _him_ in disbelief. Really of all the things he could react to _this_ was the thing that he chose to be horrified by?

“I have a lot of tattoos, but that’s not the point!” Jason grumbled. “The point is that I’m going to have to get involved now and I don’t want you guys to get too involved in this. You need to stay out of the way. I’ll deal with the Winchesters, okay?” This time it was Dick who the outburst came from.

“No way! We’re not just going to abandon you when we know that you are going to need help! Demons? Hunters? That’s sounds like a load of crazy that you shouldn’t have to handle alone! I just got my little brother back! I’m not going to lose you again. I can’t.” Dick yelled angrily. Jason’s eyes softened slightly and he was about to respond when he heard something.

Jason stiffened before turning towards the corner. “How long have you been awake?”


	4. Are You Freakin' Kidding Me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> on the bright side, it's a chapter. On the downside, it's a shitty chapter. I sort of know where I want to go with this?

_“How long have you been awake?”_

 

* * *

 

“Since you started talking about how you ran off to Ethiopia.” Sam said, and because he just knew by looking at the 16 year old teen that he was a horrible liar, he believed him. He let out a sigh, luckily John was still out cold and he didn’t have to explain anything bat related to any of them because he’d been smart enough not to mention anything that could be traced back. Plenty of people got blown up by the Joker. It wasn’t like it was anything new.

“Well kid, I feel like John didn’t exactly tell you much. So do you have questions? I’m struck with a stroke of generosity. I’ll answer a couple questions but I have the right to refuse.” Jason said flippantly. He was just fucking pissed at the father son duo and although he knows it isn’t Sam’s fault, he can’t help but have that resentment. All of his hatred and anger had been amplified by the Lazarus pit and now it was very easy to make him mad.

Just the fact that he had shown up and wrecked his life when things were just beginning to go okay was enough of a reason for him to be pissed in his books.

Sam’s eyebrows furrowed before he began to ask his questions. “So what was your job?” he asked. Jason wanted to groan. Really. This kid.

“Unimportant.”

“Fine then is it true that you were killed by the Joker?” Sam asked instead. Jason raised an eyebrow at him but he nodded anyway. He could feel the eyes of the bat family on him, but he continued on with his somewhat one sided conversation with Sam anyway. They preached about family all the fucking time. He was just following their example at this point.

“But how are you alive?” Sam asked in shock. “Dad said that you were dead and that’s why we came here. Well as far as I’ve gathered. And you people didn’t seem to know what a hunter was, so how… no one made a deal…” Sam seemed incredibly lost and confused. Poor kid, he knew what it was like to not be told vital information.

It pissed him off too.

He sighed (he’d been doing an awful lot of that in the past hour), and began to speak. “Kid I have a lot of connections. And one of those connections, thought that it would be funny to send me back to my dad broken and crazy after I was resurrected by a screwed up timeline. It was an exciting time. I tried to kill a couple people, became a mob boss and beat the shit out of the Joker. I even got thrown in Arkham by Batman!” He said, deliberately trying to scare the kid.

If he couldn’t handle a little crazy Jason time then he wasn’t cut out to be a hunter. Heck, Jason had only just started getting back into the hunting world when he got over most of the pit madness, and he was already sick of that world. Hunters were even worse than Bruce with their ‘I don’t play well with others’ philosophy.

Superman complained about how difficult Batman was, but if he ever had to work with any number of hunters he’d be pulling his hair out in frustration.

Of course John, with his ever perfect timing, decided that he’d wake up _right then_ and catch the last answer that was meant to be used as a scare tactic – even if all of what he said _was_ true. He raised his head from where it was slumped against himself and immediately started spewing bullshit. Jason knew that there was a reason that he liked John better when he was unconscious.

“You what?” he growled dangerously. Jason deadpanned at him. Really. He just _had_ to wake up now. “A Winchester doesn’t kill people!” he yelled angrily. Dick shared a look with Tim before they both looked at Bruce and started laughing really hard. Damian looked unimpressed. Bruce had a good natured look of annoyance on his face.

“Woo! That was funny!” he yelled as he wiped tears from his eyes from laughing so forcefully. “If you think that’s gonna work on Jason then you have another thing coming for you!” Tim continued to guffaw in the background despite the fact that Jason had leveled a glare on him.

“You think that we haven’t tried that already? Jason doesn’t listen to the whole ‘we don’t kill’ thing.” Tim said. Of course, that seemed to worry John severely as he began to struggle in his bonds.

“Untie us right now!” he continued angrily. Jason just rolled his eyes before looking over his shoulder at the two laughing vigilantes.

“Calm your asses down, you give us all a bad image. And for the record, I’m not a Winchester. Heck I’m not even a hunter much anymore I’d just love to stay away from all of this, but the Y.E.D is after my ass and I bet a good sum of money that he’s after Sam’s too, so you better start talking old man.” Jason growled. He was still so angry at the elder hunter that it was unreal.

But if Azazel had bothered to go and kill him when he was out of the business already – and the only reason that he was back was by pure luck and someone having a really bad day in an alternate universe. He clearly wasn’t meant to be interfering now, and that blasted demon no doubt knew that he was alive again. It was pointless to believe that he hadn’t.

Clearly the Winchester family had some significance to whatever the demon was planning – and demons were never up to anything good, let’s be honest – so if John didn’t start blabbing soon someone was going to pay. Jason really didn’t have the patience to deal with any of this shit right now. Sam shifted uncomfortably, before he suddenly began to speak.

“I have some powers from the demon blood that the yellow eyed demon fed me as a baby. And I’m not the only one either. We found a bunch of kids just like me who were being hunted and killed off. We think that they’re trying to amass a child army. For what, we don’t know.” Sam blurted out only to be glared at by John.

“Sam!” he reprimanded harshly, scowling at his youngest son. Oh so papa Winchester didn’t want them to know what was happening. What exactly did he hope to gain from this encounter? Hmm, why not ask?

“Well Johnny-boy, if you didn’t wants us to know, then why did you come here? I still believe it’s bullshit that you came to ‘avenge me’. You never cared about. But it’s true that you continued to drag Sammy here into you problems? He deserves a normal life, old man.” Jason said coldly as he pulled out his gun and began fiddling with it. Taking it apart and beginning to clean it with the equipment that he had lying around.

Bruce shot him a warning look at the sight of the gun, as well as the gun equipment that he pulled out from under a couch cushion. He rolled his eyes. Yeah, yeah, no guns in the house. Well too late now. John scowled at him and stubbornly refused to speak. “You better start talking soon. I’m not known for my patience and I need to know how much danger my family – no not _you_ , you conceited pig – is in. So spill, or you’re not leaving alive; I get trigger happy real easily and they haven’t trained me out of it.” He continued flippantly, pointedly ignoring Dick’s pout.

He can pout all he wants. He was lucky that he was even in the know at this point. Jason could have easily killed John and then they wouldn’t have this problem. But there was still Sam, and deep down, Jason couldn’t blame Sam for anything. It wasn’t the kid’s fault that John had been a shit father. That they had been wrapped up in any of this at all.

Fucking demons.

“Pretty good chance that you’ll be attacked. The demons have been watching us, so they’ll know that you’re here and who they are to you. Demons are ruthless and will destroy everything in their path.” He mumbled grumpily. “Face it kid, you’re stuck with us now. There’s no gettin’ out of this mess. You’ve been involve since day 1 and there’s nothing you can do about it now.”

Jason narrowed his eyes.

That sounded an awful lot like bullshit if you asked him.

“Hell no. They’re stayin’ out of it, and you’re gonna tell me how I’m going to kill this son of a bitch, because you are obviously too incompetent to actually do it yourself.” He said instead as he finished reassembling his gun with a click. Dick looked scandalized at Jason’s comment, and the others were frowning in the background.

“No way! If you’re going to get involved in another hair brained scheme where you can end up _dead_ , then so are we! I’m not going to lose you again!” Dick yelled angrily as he stood up and stomped towards Jason. “You’re not leaving us out of this!” he said as he poked Jason in the chest. Jason glared right back.

“Well I’m not going to lose you! You all need to stay out of it if  you don’t want someone to die, because news flash Dick, this world gets messy and people die all the time!” he shot back. Dick flinched, but that didn’t stop him from yelling back.

“Well we can handle ourselves! You don’t have to worry about whether we can protect ourselves or not. It’s not like this will be the first threat we take down together! We can handle it! It’s not like demons can be any worse.” He argued. Jason wanted to scream in frustration. He just wasn’t getting it!

“It’s too dangerous! Demons re ruthless and on a whole other level! They don’t have the same weaknesses that humans have. They’re like nothing that you’ve ever dealt with before. They can’t be killed or held captive indefinitely. Sure there’s holy water, salt, and devil’s traps, but that can only do so much. So far no hunter has ever found a way to kill them, and they just hop from host to host. They’ll kill you before you can even hope to kill them.”

“Then why are you trying to convince us to let you go in alone!” Dick screamed as he got in the now standing, Jason’s face. “You say that there’s no way to kill it and that they’ll just kill us before we can do anything, but that means you’re almost guaranteed to die!” Jason shook his head.

“I was trained in how to deal with demons! I know how to handle them, and I’m willing to kill. At the end of the day, you’re not. You’ll only get in the way! Being a hunter isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. You’re used to all the horrors that the humans can cause, but sometimes what the supernatural do is worse. It’s a whole other world, and I’m not willing to risk your lives for something stupid from my past.”

“Damn it Jason, I can’t lose you again. You gotta let me try and help.” Dick whispered brokenly. Jason sighed in exasperation and wrapped his arms around Dick.

“I can’t lose you either Dickiebird.” He murmured softly.

This was when Tim, ever the voice of reason decided that it would be a good time to interfere. “We’re involved whether you like it or not, so you better make sure that we’re prepared. I need to call Barbara. If anyone can find a way to kill a demon, then it would be her.” He said in a matter of fact tone, before turning to go into the hallway, pulling out his phone as he went.

John glared at him as he left, but he didn’t say anything after seeing all of the remaining Waynes. Sam glared at his father, seeing all of the chaos that he had caused simply by showing up. “Any other bombshells you want to drop today? Like another relative that I didn’t know was alive?” Sam asked in a mocking tone, clearly believing that there would be no more surprises.

John’s stony and serious expression made Sam do a double take. “You’re kidding.” He deadpanned. “You’ve got to be kidding me, seriously?!” At this outburst, Damian finally decided to speak up.

“Tch, explain Winchester. We don’t have all night to waste on your pathetic secrets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, Adam explanation and meeting Barbara.


	5. Getting Things Together

And of course, because John is just a major fucking asshole – was Jason really all that surprised? People don’t change. That’s how they work, ya know? – he was keeping _more_ secrets. Absolute bullshit. Seriously what the fuck. And the best part was that it wasn’t even just any kind of secret. No it was another fucking family member.

Damn both of his ‘families’ were hella messed up. He just thought the word ‘hella’. Goddammit. He blames Dick for everything.

“Do what the demon brat says Winchester. Sammy boy deserves an explanation; so start talking.” Jason grinned mockingly, walking over to stand behind Sam, swinging his hips as he went. He’d been friends with some prostitutes for a while now – he protected them when he could; he understood that their job was dangerous but that they needed to do whatever they could to make ends meet – so he’d picked up some of their tactics.

Their smug walk never seemed to cease pissing off people, and it seems like John Winchester was no exception. Jason has to admit, that it was partially to make John draw conclusions. No straight boy walked like that – and John was a pretty homophobic asshole if some of the rants he remembered hearing as a child meant anything – and it also made John assume that he was also a prostitute.

Now that may seem like a leap of logic, but John was a hunter, and he was trained to see things like this. Too bad Jason had been trained by better people than John and knew how to fool people who were harder to foo than a pathetic lovesick hunter.

His assumptions aren’t exactly wrong… he’d caught himself staring at Roy’s ass just as much as he stared at Kori’s tits… but that was a problem for another day. Now he needed to pay attention to what John was saying.

If he puts a little extra effort into pissing John off as long as they’re working together, then that’s nobody’s business but his own.

He draped an arm across Sam’s shoulder, pulling the stunned teen close to him and resting his chin on Sam’s head. He cocked his head to the side and grinned at John, his smile all teeth. He of course, pointedly ignored Bruce’s disapproving frown at his attitude. He had daddy issues a mile wide; he was allowed to be a bit of a dick.

“You have a half-brother. A couple of years after you were gone Dean, we passed through a small town in Minnesota, and a woman ended up getting pregnant. I would visit every birthday and Christmas. His name’s Adam Milligan. He doesn’t know about the hunting world, but he could be targeted by the demon; like the Wayne’s could be.” John admitted uncomfortably.

“Hmm, real responsible of you Mr. Winchester. It seems we’ll have to make a visit to the Milligan residence and catch the family up. They’ll be involved whether they like it or not.” Tim purred as he slunk towards the table and pulled out his laptop. “I’ll get in contact with Barbara, she’ll want to be in the know, and she’ll be useful in tracking down the Milligan’s. They could have moved since Mr. Winchester saw them last.”

Jason kept his arm around Sam’s shoulders as he turned to see Bruce’s reaction to all of this. He had been oddly silent. “Bruce?” he said quietly, for once not trying to bait the older vigilante. Bruce looked serious and deep in thought, and he gratefully accepted the cup of tea that Alfred brought him.

“Dick,” he began seriously, “see if you can get into contact with Raven. She might know something that can help us… considering who her family is. We’ll want to get in contact with the local vigilantes. They’ll have better resources on how to help with this situation. I have a lot of work to do, so Jason if you could get into contact with Batman?” he said, the end up his sentence raising in pitch slightly.

It was an offer. Bruce wasn’t planning on revealing any of their identities, however, if Jason wanted to, his identity was his choice. As long as none of the others in the Batfamily were compromised it was his choice. He took the option for what it was and glanced down at the teen he was currently leaning on.

As much as he hated John Winchester for what he’d done, he’d learned the hard way that blaming siblings for the father’s faults was stupid and a waste of time. Sam deserved to know some of what he was getting into if he wanted Jason anywhere near him. He’d heard some of their discussion, so it really wouldn’t be that much of a surprise to find out… right?

And if he chose to never talk to Jason again after finding out all the shit he’d done, then now was the time to do it so that Jason couldn’t get too attached. There was also the added bonus of John’s reaction. His former hunting protégé was not only Batman’s former partner, but he was now a successful and very dangerous mob boss murderer. Excellent.

“In case you haven’t figured it out – and you hunters are all very obtuse I really wouldn’t be surprised that you were unable to see what was right in front of you,” he rolled his eyes jokingly at Tim and Damian just for appearances sake; have to have that united front, no weakness. “I’m the Red Hood and used to be Batman’s protégé before I… went solo, so it will be easy for me to get into contact.”

Dick snickered from the corner of the room where he was texting someone; presumably Raven.

“Is Raven a hunter?” Sam asked innocently. “If so what family is she from?” Jason huffed and ruffled Sam’s hair. He was cute.

“No. She’s not a hunter. And technically neither are we.” Jason said in response, completely ignoring the questioning look that Sam sent him after. “So we’ll recap the situation when you guys get to the batcave. Don’t worry we’ll grab your car.” Jason continued. John frowned and opened his mouth to speak, but Sam beat him to the punch.

“Wait why would you–“ but he was cut off by none other than Jason as he hit him in the back of the head and proceeded to knock both him and John out. Dick glared at him playfully.

“Really Jason?” he said, “well admittedly, it makes transporting them to the batcave without them knowing who we are.” Dick frowned as he realized something. “Wait… he knows that we plan on helping you… but how do we do that as well as keep our identities a secret?”

Tim rolled his eyes. “Well it’s pretty simple actually. Damian and I can handle Gotham for you while Bruce plays Batman. You’ll be your police officer self, who’s currently dating Barbara. That’s how you’ll have gotten an in with the local vigilantes and it would explain Barbara’s presence as well. You’re the vigilantes’ in with the law, and that’s why you know Raven and other vigilantes. Bruce knows about your connections because he’s our father and you’re the goody two shoes older brother who tattles literally everything.”

Dick glared, “I don’t tattle!” he yelled indignantly, flinching slightly when John shifted in his bonds. He wasn’t any closer to consciousness, he just slumped a little further into the chair. At all of the Wayne boys’ disapproving looks, he looked down sheepishly. “Well, I don’t try to okay?” he grumbled. Damian rolled his eyes, somehow managing to remain sophisticated.

“Of course that’s the only problem you have with your cover Grayson.” He sneered. Tim interrupted before Dick could retort.

“And Bruce would just have to remain as Batman. It wouldn’t really be the first time. Jason you’ve chosen to reveal your identity, so you can do whatever as long as you don’t compromise the rest of us.” Tim said in a very matter of fact tone. “Now Barbara will be waiting for us at the cave and if Dick did his one job, we should have some information from raven by the time we get the Winchesters and their car to the cave.” Jason made a face.

But it _was_ a good enough plan so that’s exactly what they did.

It was a simple matter of Bruce and Dick slinging the two unconscious Winchesters over their shoulders and they made their way to the cave. Damian went with them, while Tim decided to join Jason in grabbing the Winchester’s vehicle. When Jason found in at the edge of their property – luckily that was very near the vehicular entrance to the batcave so there wasn’t far to go after that – he whistled in appreciation.

“I may hate the man, but damn his ride’s sweet.” He said as he slid a hand over the sleek body of the 67 Chevy Impala. It wasn’t exactly in mint condition, but that came with the job didn’t it. Jason had always had a thing for nice cars – more noticeable after he started hanging out with Roy. Roy was obsessed with cars and fine vehicles, what with him being a handy mechanic. He had a certain appreciation for the automotive industry that had rubbed off on Jason.

He walked around the car, taking inventory on her mentally while he checked for any signs of booby traps. John apparently wasn’t as good a hunter as he claimed to be, because there weren’t even any wards on the car. Nothing at all. Maybe he was one of those hunters who just killed to kill even if the creature hadn’t done any harm. Hated witchcraft and anything that had something to do with the dark side.

Probably a racist misogynistic fuck too. And a deadbeat dad who was a serial killer in his own right. In regards to the nature vs. nurture argument, no wonder Jason turned out kinda shitty. What with _that_ as an influence.

He was just lucky he had brains at this point. Probably from his mother and Alfred at this point.

He opened the car and slipped out the keys that he ‘d stolen off of John and simply started the ignition, admiring the purr that the well-kept engine made. He raised an eyebrow at Tim questioningly before jerking his head in a gesture that said ‘get in’. Tim scoffed before sliding into the passenger seat. He’d barely shut the door when the car was peeling down the road towards the cave.

Tim looked panicked for just a second, but in the true Wayne fashion, he gathered his wits about him very fast. Soon enough, they arrived at the cave and Jason parked in the center where the batmobile usually rested. Tim and Jason got out of the car in sync (like in the old TV shows… like… imagine if that was his life… it would be an awesome TV series) and closed the doors.

Jason leaned against the car impatiently while he waited for Bruce and Dick to arrive with the unconscious Winchesters. When they did, they plopped them on the floor to wake up, and went to change their clothes. Bruce stripped efficiently and got into the batsuit without making a sound and in a minute it was like he had never been Bruce Wayne.

Unlike Bruce’s obvious elegance, Dick was another story. He clumsily flung his clothes into a locker before pulling on his Bludhaven police uniform. By the time he had finished shimmying into the tightest dress pants Jason had ever seen, Barbara had wheeled herself in and started up the batcomputer. She was importing files that were sent by Raven and scanning the information. That was when Jason took the time to look through the trunk of the car.

He saw past the false bottom easily and began to inspect the gear that the Winchesters had. He was disappointed when he saw how pathetic their arsenal was. Seriously, John had been hunting a demon for years and he didn’t even have any holy water. Geez, he’d had a better arsenal when he’d been on the streets.

There were a couple sawed off shot guns and equipment to make more rock salt rounds, cleaning rags and a machete. Two shovels, a flashlight, batteries and a big bag of rock salt were the other things that were in the trunk. It was rather pathetic for such a prestigious hunter. What was John thinking? He was just about to voice his thoughts to Bruce, when there was a distinct groan from the heap that was the other two Winchesters.

They were waking up. Well time to put on a show.


	6. The Batcave

Sam woke slowly and his vision was blurry when he first opened his eyes. Luckily it seemed that the room – or wherever he was – was dark, so it wasn’t like it was the light that hurt his eyes. There was a sharp pain at the back of his eyes, but it was easy enough to ignore. This isn’t exactly his first rodeo, so it wasn’t the first time he’d been knocked out before. It was just the first time he wasn’t restrained.

That’s another important thing to note. He wasn’t restrained. In fact he was laying on some sort of… futon? It wasn’t the hard floor but it wasn’t exactly a 5 star hotel either. He was free to move and after a moment of waking up, he did just that. He sat up slowly, knowing better than to sit up sharply lest he make his headache worse, and began to rub his eyes. He blinked a couple times to clear his vision, then he began to take in his surroundings.

The first thing he noticed was that it was dark. No duh Sam, gotta step up your game. There was some lights that allowed shadows to fall over the room, and he was quickly made aware of the fact that it was not a room, but a cave. And it was massive as well. There was a weapons room? Supply station? Sam had no idea what, but whatever it was, it was high tech. And everything was… bat themed. Sam had heard of the rather infamous Batman; the vigilante that protected Gotham and occasionally the entire world.

He just hadn’t thought that Jason was serious when he said he worked with him. His entire story – even being the Red Hood – sounded so farfetched, but at the end of the day, it was as reasonable an explanation as can be expected. He as a hunter, having weird experiences is to be expected. Still… being beaten within an inch of life and then being blown up, and _then_ being resurrected seemed pretty incredible. That’s not even accounting for the fact that apparently after he’d been abandoned by his _monster hunter_ family, he was then taken in by a billionaire, and became a vigilante.

His life was comic book worthy at this point.

But anyways, he figured that he was in the batcave, and that it was either Jason or Dick who had brought him here. He sat up slowly and was able to see more of the cave. But before he could actually look around, a voice interrupted his thoughts. “Welcome back to the land of the living Sammy.” He whipped his head around to where the source of the voice.

There, leaning casually against one of the any consoles around the one massive screen, was none other than Jason. He was smirking at Sam with a smug look in his eyes. “It’s about time.” He continued mockingly, “we’ve been waiting for a while now. But on the bright side, you’re up before dead beat dad over there.” He sneered in the direction of the ground next to Sam. He looked down to where Jason’s eyes rested and he flinched slightly.

Lying there was none other than his father, still out cold. It was an unsettling sight for the 16 year old. Sure he’d been a hunter for years, but seeing his seemingly infallible father lying unconscious on the ground after being taken down so easily was more than enough reason to be unsettled. It made him feel unsafe, despite the fact that it was his biological brother that was there with him in the unfamiliar environment. Maybe that was what made it worse. It was his brother who had essentially kidnapped them.

They were so outclassed. It only made sense that he was weary. Especially considering the environment. Jason was dangerous. There was no doubt about it. But Jason was also their best bet and killing that damned demon that had screwed up their lives forever.

He moved over to his dad and began to shake him. It took a couple more minutes of pretty intense silence – since Jason seemed content to remain silent and Sam really didn’t know how to respond to Jason’s… greeting – but soon enough John began to stir. It was slow at first, but then he woke up all at once and immediately sat up. He pushed Sam behind himself and got into what might have been a defensive position had he not almost fallen over after a wave of wooziness hit.

“Where are we.” He growled angrily. Jason raised an eyebrow.

“No punctuation, eh? Sam, you’ll have to work on that.” He snarked before directing his attention back to John. “In case you haven’t figured it out yet – dumbass – we’re in the batcave, so calm yo ass down.” He rolled his eyes before looking into a particularly dark corner of the room (if you can even call it that).

“If a certain drama queen decides to get this show on the road, maybe we can start getting shit done.”

Sam turned to look at the dark corner, but no matter how hard he concentrated he just couldn’t see anything. It was pitch black and there wasn’t a single sound from that direction at all. If he hadn’t just heard Jason and saw him look there, he would have completely overlooked the corner. Rookie mistake.

There was a beat of silence, and John moved as if to scoff at Jason – seriously why the fuck was he acting like such an asshole to his son? – when there was a rustle from the corner. Then a tall figure clad in all black armor walked out from the shadows. It was a rather intimidating figure, having a half mask and a majestic cape. His iconic bat ears identified him as none other than Gotham’s dark knight.

He stalked forward, completely ignoring the two downed hunters in a rather offensive dismissive manner, before sweeping his cape and sitting down at the large console. He spun to face them before grunting and whispering something to Jason, who had come to stand slightly behind him and to the left.

Jason rolled his eyes but began to speak nonetheless. “He gets into moods sometimes, so I’ll be doing all of the talking, while Mr. Grumpy-pants over here sits and broods. So first order of business, we’ll be having my brother Dick and his girlfriend Barbara – who used to be Batgirl before her accident – join us in deciding our next move.”

John frowned. “We have no use for a crippled former hero,” he mumbled snidely. “And this field of work is no place for a girl.” Jason glared at him, looking like he was about to say something, but he was interrupted by a rather loud noise as a door opened somewhere in the cave.

For it was at that moment, when Dick returned to the room with Barbara. He calmly wheeled her over to the big central console where she immediately began to type away, pulling up window after window of information on Adam Milligan. She was doing what she did best, which was gather information; even if it wasn’t necessarily in the most legal manner.

But hunters were no stranger to going against the law, and Jason really didn’t care either way.

Barbara raised an eyebrow. “Will that be a problem, Mr. Winchester?” she asked coolly. “My being ‘female’? I assure you, many have thought the same in the past, and you will find that I’m still quite capable of proving to you just how worthy I am.” He froze for a second before shaking his head and remaining silent. At least he was smart enough to know not to contradict Barbara. She was a force of nature on a good day, and this clearly wasn’t one.

She had a hard look in her eyes, which was usually a sign of her having been given trouble by some douche nozzle because of her disability. Although it must have been somewhat refreshing to be singled out by her gender instead of by her handicapped state. But that’s equally as horrible if not worse. Really John? Sure you were a baby boomer and everything, but do you have to be _that_ brand of asshole?

“Mr. Winchester, I’m going to need you to tell me everything you know on your third son.” She said in a professional and clipped tone. John looked slightly taken aback, but at Jason’s imploring gaze, he offered up the information; albeit a little reluctantly.

Who liked admitting their failures right?

“Adam Milligan, lives in Wisconsin with his mother; Kate Milligan. He goes to a public school, and is about 13 years old.” He said stiffly. Sam frowned at that information. The timeline just didn’t add up. Sam would have been only 3 years old, and Jason only 7. It would have been only 3 years after their mother’s murder and John was already having relations? He even had another kid, one that he’d had for a long time and been fully aware of as well. So all those times a hunt had run ‘a little long’ in Wisconsin had been an excuse for him to see this Adam and neglect his own two kids that were living with him.

Asshat.

But at least he tried to somewhat be there for his other kid right? Better than ignoring his existence. Sam wished that maybe he’d had the chance to grow up with a mom. It seemed nice.

Barbara made a noncommittal sound before clacking away at the keyboard for a couple more minutes of tense silence before spinning around suddenly to look at the tense occupants of the room.

“So who’s all going to go to find Adam?” It was Barbara who broke the awkward silence to ask the question. It was a loaded one too. “We know that there’s a chance that _some_ sort of supernatural force has already set its sight on the only other ‘Winchester’ out there, so the obvious choice is sending John because he’s already actually talked to the kid and is a hunter. Base level of acquaintance and knowledge of family will work in his favour of trying to convince him of the supernatural.”

But Jason was having none of that. “Oh hell no!” he sassed. “There’s no way we’re sending this asshat to convince a goddamned kid to up and leave his home for an unknown amount of time for his apparent ‘safety’. That ain’t gonna fly with anyone especially the kid’s mother.” Before John could even open his mouth Jason was pointing a finger at him.

“Please, you’d probably just kidnap the kid if we let you have your way. Also it’s pretty obvious that considering you only see him on holidays or special occasions since you actually found out you had another kid when he was what, 12? I’m gonna bet you haven’t gotten around to telling him ‘bout the supernatural yet because you wanted to protect this ‘sweet, innocent child’ from the horrors of the world.” He sneered. “Because why corrupt another kid when you already have – or had – two perfect little child soldiers?”

John just glared at him from his spot near the entrance of the cave. Bruce, remained silent from his place looking over Barbara’s shoulder at the information on the bat computer. “Jason,” he growled out, not out of anger or as a reprimand but more in the way that he was just changing his voice to mask his identity. “You and Sam should accompany Mr. Winchester in… recruiting Adam.”

Dick jumped on the idea almost immediately. “Yeah! Having Sam there – a kid who’s a lot closer to Adam’s age – will definitely help in convincing him this isn’t a murder plot! And having you there would give this kid someone who can understand his probably reasonably pent up resentment for his biological father!” his eyes gleamed happily. Jason deadpanned at him.

“Wow, Dick. Tactful.” Dick blushed slightly before looking down in embarrassment.

“Shut up.”

Jason rolled his eyes, but he wasn’t knocking the plan. “Yeah, and the fact that we’re all Winchesters doesn’t hurt either does it?” he asked snarkily, rolling his eyes to exaggerate his displeasure with this entire situation.

“You don’t have to like it, Jason. But you have to admit that you’d feel better being there, what with your obsessive need to be in control of everything.” She sassed as she began wildly clicking away at the keyboard under Bruce’s watchful gaze. “Here’s all of the information I could find on Adam Milligan. I expect you’ll know what to do with it?” she asked rhetorically. Jason snatched the papers and began to scan them eagerly. John scowled and promptly walked out of the cave to ‘go make sure the impala was in peek condition’.

“So just a friendly cross-country family road trip. This should end well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes I know all my info about Adam is fucked up. But it fits the story so suck it. There will also be more Barbara at a later date. never fear.


	7. Shameless Heathers References

With those matters settled, Jason did his best to ignore the others in the room as he gathered his equipment. He’d be riding his motorcycle while Sam and John took the impala. He still thought it was a stupid idea to only send the Winchesters, but he really didn’t want his family to be involved in anymore of the supernatural world than he had to have. Hopefully the information and weapons that Raven provided will actually be useful.

It would suck to go to all the trouble of tracking down the yellow eyed bastard only to not be able to kill him.

But tracking down Adam _was_ technically a ‘side quest’ if they were really going to be serious. But Jason didn’t trust his biological father to actually be able to handle Adam probably. And Dick, Barbara and Bruce were all needed for the process of actually finding that thrice damned demon. John had spent the majority of his life trying to track down this demon (and while the hunter world seems to believe that he’s a very dangerous threat, he’s very clearly not in comparison to Gotham’s anything so Jason really didn’t have all that much confidence in his skills) and he couldn’t track it down yet, so Bruce would need to pull some favours.

Probably.

Not.

Good talk.

ANYWAYS, he was getting suited up, because who knows what would be waiting for them. Jason was lucky enough to _not_ be dressed in skintight spandex. Well at least not completely. Like Jason wasn’t hating, but you had to place somewhere on the gay spectrum to dress up in skintight spandex that did nothing to hide anything and fight people dressed in equally ridiculous costumes. At _least_ heteroflexible.

Jason really wasn’t an exception to that rule either.

His costume consisted of standard combat boots with steel toes – because he’s human and has no super powers he has to use every advantage he can get – along with durable deep grey cargo pants. Sure he had on spandex for his top, but he covered it with a surprisingly strong leather jacket. It was simple enough that no one really looked twice at him no matter where in the world he went. And with Roy and Kori, he’d been to many places.

He probably wouldn’t be recognized in public, even with his particular brand of bat symbol plastered on his chest. While the bat family was indeed known around the world, it wouldn’t exactly be that out of place. And Adam appeared to live in a small town, so it is highly unlikely that _anyone_ would make the connection.

He was honestly just too lazy to actually choose to wear something different.

The only problem was that he actually had to get _in_ to his gear. He was currently wearing something that wouldn’t offer _any_ protection and he needed to change but they were pressed for time so it wasn’t like he could actually make up a legit excuse to not change in front of others. He needed that extra couple of minutes to make sure that he would have everything he needed for the trip.

He decided to just cut his losses and take off his shirt in front of the newly conscious Sam who was currently being looked over by a mothering Barbara. He quickly pulled his loose t-shirt over his head and tried to squirm into his spandex before Sam could notice all of the scars, however he was never that lucky.

Sam seemed to just zero in on all of his scars as soon as his shirt hit the table in front of him with an audible thump. Even as he pulled on the spandex he could feel Sam’s heavy gaze staring at the now covered scars. He pulled on his cargo pants and began to stuff things into different compartments on a duffle and on his actual bike, making sure to have first aid and weapons. Never could be too careful. He’d learned his lesson after running in blindly to face the Joker.

He let out a sigh. “So Sam, I’m sure you’re dying to ask what happened.” He said evenly, not bothering to face Sam while he waited for a response. Sure he’d explained some things earlier, but John had interrupted. John wasn’t here now. There as only Dick, Barbara, Sam and himself.

“You have an autopsy scar.” He stated quietly, the sound carrying through the cave despite the fact that it was so quiet. Jason smiled ruefully.

“Yeah, comes with dying kid. Coming back didn’t exactly heal me. I was stuck in the same condition that I died in. Not great.” He admitted as he turned around and sat on a bench, looking at his younger brother wearily.

“Why’d you leave? Why did you try to find us again?”

Now wasn’t that a loaded question. By now, Barbara had stopped her ministrations and was looking at Jason expectantly. “First of all, I didn’t leave. You’re dad just decided that I was no longer useful and left me behind. I didn’t come looking because if he didn’t want me that was fine. I could survive well enough on my own. Spent some time on the streets, learned to love Gotham despite its horrors. Died as a Robin. Came back wrong enough that Batman didn’t want me anymore.” He scrubbed a hand down his face tiredly.

“Now I’m back. Not much to tell really.” He continued, letting a silence fall on the room. No one really wanted to follow up that somber paragraph that basically told his life story. After a while Sam spoke up.

“After you were gone, dad didn’t want to talk about you at all. He said you ran away and left us behind because you were weak. He thinks I’m weak too. I like school too much. I want to go to college and be a lawyer. I don’t want to be a hunter, but dad says it isn’t my choice.” Sam said as he fiddled with the edge of his shirt.

Barbara rested a hand kindly on his shoulder. “You can choose whether you want to go to school or not. You don’t have to be a hunter forever. Once you’re 18 your dad doesn’t control your life anymore.” She soothed. “I bet you could get in on a scholarship. If you’re anything like your brother than I bet you’re smart. When Jason lived with Bruce he skipped a grade because he was some kind of genius.”

Jason scowled. Once upon a time he’d wanted to go to college too. He’d wanted to study English literature, or even musical theatre. But he’d never really had the chance. Recently he’d forged a high school diploma and began taking some online classes, but it wasn’t the same. Sometimes being legally dead wasn’t so great. “I died before I got the chance to even graduate. You should go to college. I know Dick loved it.” He said.

Sam looked up at them hopefully and smiled softly. “My last Science teacher told me that I should too.” This time the silence was a lot less awkward. Jason was able to finish packing all of his weapons onto the bike and was half way into updating his medical kit when Sam spoke up once more. “So what should I call you? I know that your name _was_ Dean, but now it’s Jason? Could I call you JD? Like, as in short for Jason Dean?” Sam asked with a shit eating grin on his face.

At that comment, Jason sort of just shut down. You could practically see how his thought process slowed to a stop as his face was wiped of all expression. He sat there staring at Sam for a moment, before Dick appeared out of _literally_ _nowhere_ and started rolling on the floor and laughing.

“Oh my gosh, _yes_!” he crowed happily as he wiped tears from his eyes. “The puns!!! I’m calling you that now, you can’t escape it like you did last time!” That seemed to break Jason out of his stupor as he turned around lightning fast and threw a roll of medical tape at Dick’s head. He glared at him furiously as he reluctantly flushed red at that particular memory.

Sam furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Wait… what do you mean by last time?” he asked in confusion. Dick had another fit of giggles before he attempted to answer the younger Winchester.

“Well, back before Jason… anyway. While he was at Gotham Academy, they decided to put on a production of a musical. And because Jason was part of the enriched English class as well as the advanced music class, he was forced to audition for the musical.” Dick interrupted his own story telling with a fit of giggles.

“I know it sounds really hard to believe, but this all really happened. It was hilarious to see his expression when he was informed of his mandatory audition.” Dick continued. “Now he could have easily half-assed the audition but that’s really not Jason’s style. If he was going to be forced to do this, he was going to do it well. So he auditioned for the role of the ‘villain’ in the musical Heathers.”

This time it was Barbara who spoke next. There was a look of recognition on her face as she spoke, “wait… isn’t Heathers that musical version of the 1980s cult classic?” Dick’s grin only widened at hearing that.

“Yup and you’ll never guess what the character’s name was. Jason was perfect for the character! Not only is he a morally grey character who believes killing off the problem people in society will solve problems, but his name is also Jason Dean and he’s had a shitty ass past with a deadbeat dad.” Dick crowed excitedly. Jason scowled at him. Apparently that was all the explanation that Sam needed because he started giggling right along with Dick.

How undignified.

“There’s so much irony, wow. It’s like the character was _made_ for you. Were you any good?” Sam asked as he watched Jason curiously. He sighed heavily, of course that was the one topic that Sam decided to latch onto; his history in the performance industry. He scoffed and stuck his nose in the air.

“Of course I was good.” He said snootily getting another giggle from Sam. He smirked triumphantly at him. Barbara rolled her eyes.

“Putting aside all of the massive amount of arrogance in that comment, yes he was very good. Unfortunately Bruce hadn’t been able to make it to the show, but my dad got a recording for him when he took me and Dick.” She said, “I’m sure I can find a way to send it to you.” That really caught Jason’s attention.

“Wait… I thought there was no copies of that left. I thought you weren’t even aloud to record it? It was illegal? Barbara your dad’s a cop!” he cried indignantly. By now Sam was practically rolling on the floor laughing at the direction that this conversation was going. Barbara just rolled her eyes, not dignifying Jason’s scandalized remark with a response.

Jason snickered softly as he zipped the duffle bag with a definite zip. “Well, you ready to go Sam? I bet your father’s getting impatient and I really wouldn’t put it past him to leave without us if it weren’t for the fact that I’m the only one who knows where Adam is located now.” Sam’s giggle fit subsided long enough for him to nod in the affirmative to Jason’s statement.

He got up slowly and made to follow Jason but they were stopped by Barbara. She caressed Jason’s face softly, before murmuring, “come back safely.” With that parting message, they left the cave to where John was waiting by the parked impala.

“It’s about time,” he snarked as he moved to get in the car, roughly jerking his head to the side in a gestures silently commanding Sam to get into the passenger seat. Jason pulled on his signature red helmet and then they were off.

Jason prayed that they wouldn’t arrive too late.


	8. Introducing Adam (and doing a poor job of it)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao I'm just scrolling thru fics now and so many ppl are pulling the whole 'my first fic so pls be nice idk what im doin' that it's pretty ridiculous. Here I am pushing fic #63 (technically I have 2 WIPs on this already but I'm also working on at least 7 other fics at the moment. Not to mention my 43 other prompts) and wow do i feel weird about this.

So the drive was almost unnecessarily long. The only saving grace was the fact that he was alone on my motorcycle so he didn’t have to deal with the annoying biological family. Poor Sammy. John was a real piece of work that Jason was just really not ready to deal with. Thank god he’s in the other car, although if he could stop getting us into these stupid situations that would be great thanks.

Unfortunately, he also drove as slow as he possibly could (okay so maybe Jason liked to speed. A lot. But that wasn’t important) and that slowed down the drive too. It wasn’t a fun time and being on a motorcycle for a semi-cross country trip might not have been the best idea but you know what? He didn’t have to deal with John so that was a win in his books.

After what seemed like an eternity, they finally made it to the right city. Then it was a simple matter of driving to the suburbs and finding the right house. It was a simple brown bungalow style house, just like every other house on the street. It wasn’t the richest neighborhood, but it wasn’t exactly impoverished either. Jason parked his motorcycle and hopped off gracefully and removing his helmet all in one go. He didn’t even bother waiting for the Impala to park before he was striding confidently towards the door.

There was some slamming and hurried footsteps as the other two Winchesters hurried over to join Jason before he was able to knock on the door. He didn’t even bother sparing them a glance as he briskly knocked on the door. He was impatient and he really didn’t want to have to deal with _another_ Winchester. There were far too many popping up in his life as it is.

He would prefer to be Winchester free at the moment, but that wasn’t possible.

After a moment – and a good couple seconds of aggressive knocking – the door opened cautiously and a teenage boy’s face peaked out through the crack made by the barely open door. He had bright green eyes and sandy blonde hair. They were almost identical to Jason’s own; they even had the suspicious glint in them. It would be like looking in a mirror had the boy’s eyes been a bit more shattered.

Maybe that was a good thing.

John pushed past Jason so that the boy was able to see that it was his father. “Son, we need to talk.” The door cracked open a bit wider to reveal the rest of the teen.

“You haven’t been around lately.” The kid stated quietly. Jason mentally rolled his eyes. Of fucking course.

“Oh please,” Jason scoffed, “kid you gotta get over your daddy issues! It’s putting a downer on things here and we’re actually trying to be serious.” Sam rolled his eyes and shoved past Jason as he moved further into the house.

“We aren’t exactly strangers to Daddy issues; Isn’t that right JD?”

Jason scowled and glared halfheartedly at Sam. “At least _I_ didn’t blow myself up, thank you very. That was all the Joker. Also fun fact, that really hurts. I totally would not recommend.” Adam looked highly unimpressed at that remark, but he motioned for them to sit down anyways.

“I’m going to ignore that.” He decided, “and sit down. Do you want something to drink?” he said, asking the typical host questions. When no one answered in the affirmative, he continued on, taking a seat on the sofa and facing the three Winchesters. “So dad, why are you here? You never visit unless it’s a holiday, and sometimes not even then. So what gives, daddio?” he asked.

Jason snorted before muffling his chuckles with his hand. John glared at him while Sam just looked like he wanted to laugh as well. The only difference being the fact that he had more self-control than his older brother. “Oh, don’t wait up on my account,” he snickered. “Go right ahead, _daddio_.” He broke out into another fit of chuckles. Sam scoffed, but turned his attention to John anyways.

“Son, you know how I won’t talk about my job? Well we’ve made some enemies, and you’re in danger.” John said bluntly. Jason sneered at them.

“Oh cut the crap old man, _we_ didn’t do anything. We just happen to have… become unfortunate victims of a rather special serial killer.” he said, looking at Adam as if he was telling him some juicy gossip and expecting him to be impressed.

John looked constipated and Jason absolutely loved it.

“Fine, something is targeting our family, and we fear that you might be next.” John admitted much to Jason’s amusement.

“It’s a demon by the way. A demon is hunting us down to kill us. Oh, and we’re all hunters. Specifically monster hunters. Your older brother Sam here, along with you ever so helpful father hunt the supernatural. Me? I prefer more human targets but I’ll do the occasional spooky hunt. Just for shits and giggles.” Jason said flippantly, completely undermining John’s pathetic attempt at communication.

“…Demons….and….monster hunters?” Adam said slowly, staring at them as if they were completely bat-shit insane.

“It all started when we were young children, the demon came and burnt our mother to a crisp. Then in some misguided attempt at getting justice, daddy dearest decided to hunt all things supernatural and bring his two children – both below the age of 5 I’d like to add – into a life of criminal activity and murder all the while growing up on the road. It was a fun time. Well for the first 5 years anyways. Then I got ditched. But I got attacked and these two numbskulls decided that it was high time to inform you. So here we are.” Jason waved his hand to gesture towards the room.

He made an awkward little ta da gesture as if he hadn’t just paraphrased their entire life story and told their half-brother that they hunted the things that go bump in the night as a career.

Adam raised an eyebrow as he stared at the three people he was hosting in his living room. “You’re serious? Monster hunters… that’s what you’re going with?” he asked incredulously, and really Jason couldn’t find it in himself to blame him. This entire thing sounded so fake it was almost ridiculous.

Who in their right mind would believe 3 strangers who just showed u one day claiming to not only hunt monsters, but to also be long lost family. What the fuck? This was like a plot for a bad television series. And Adam looked like a pretty smart kid, and Jason didn’t really doubt that Adam would come around eventually.

Now that might sound kinda contradictory, but while John might look crazy, the fact that Jason and Sam were going along with this was more convincing. Sure Jason might look dangerous, but outside of Gotham most people just thought that he was a biker or even a cosplayer.

He always found it hilarious that people thought he was cosplaying something or another or even cosplaying the Red Hood. Some people even asked to take a picture with him, and he couldn’t resist. It wasn’t like people would be able to discover his secret identity anyways.

Tim had even forced him into making a blog. Or well… continuing the blog that he’d made in high school. After his foray into musical theatre when he played JD in the high school production of Heathers, he had posted some pictures online as a whim. He got popular because of his likeness, but since his death the blog hadn’t really gone anywhere.

And despite the fact that he had been a pretty high profile kid, no one had figured out his identity. Despite the lack of posts and the mysterious disappearance, his blog wasn’t any less popular. A couple pictures of him ‘cosplaying’ as various vigilantes easily rocketed him up to being a decently popular cosplayer.

Tim had conned him into wearing the Red Robin costume, and then all of the others as well. Although it had been Jason’s idea to start cosplaying as some of Gotham’s villains. He found the Joker to be particularly hilarious and ironic. Dick hadn’t shared the sentiment and had just stared him down for a while as he was putting on the Joker makeup.

It was fucking stupid if he was going to be honest with himself, but it was a hobby. And it was infinitely better than murdering people. So you know, that’s a win.

But anyways, Jason didn’t exactly look like the most trustworthy person. He looked like a typical bad boy, and he had the attitude to match. But Sam, Sam was someone who looked normal. He was a slightly bookish teenage boy who was traveling with his father and the older brother who was in the same position as himself. Sam believed it, and as the only person who didn’t look even slightly crazy, that made him the most credible.

It was weird, but it worked.

Sam smiled softly at him before speaking up. “yeah, we’re serious. I know it sounds weird, but it’s all true.” He reached forward as if to put a comforting hand on Adam’s wrist, but he flinched away. Sam frowned, but retreated with a disappointed look.

“If it makes you feel better, I’m in the same boat as you. Well, a bit worse.” Jason said all of a sudden. He leaned against the wall and stared straight at Adam without flinching. “I mean, at least John made an effort to be there for you for some holidays. Also he left you alone and out of the crazy side of the family for this long. I count that as a good thing. I, on the other hand, got left behind at the age of 9 and ended up growing up on the streets of Gotham.”

He grinned before picking at the mesh gloves he had on. “Then I got killed by something John was involved with and they found me again. I got involved because my shitty ass family decided to drag me back. Unfortunately, if they found me – whom John had already abandoned and washed his hands of, by the way – then they’ll definitely be able to find you; the favoured innocent son.” He shook his head, “hate to break it to you kid, but if you get killed you aren’t coming back the way I did, so you’re going to have to trust us if you want to live.”

Adam just stared at him for a moment, looking thoroughly freaked out. “You died?” he demanded harshly, looking very panicked. Jason rolled his eyes.

“Really? That’s what you focused on?” he said in exasperation. Of fucking course the only thing the kid picks up from his lengthy full-of-daddy-issues speech is the fact that he’d been killed. Not even that fact that him being killed was John’s fault either.

“Well what do you want me to focus on?” the kid asked indignantly, “the fact that you grew up in Gotham and on the streets? While I find that really cool – and believe me I’m resisting the urge to ask if you’ve ever been saved by Batman but that would be tacky. And I still don’t believe you by the way.” He said, just throwing the last part in. Jason raised an eyebrow questioningly.

He was prompting him to continue. He wanted to see where it was going.

“And don’t judge me with your eyebrows.” Now Adam was on a roll and it didn’t look like he was going to stop before he let out everything. “Just because you may have issues doesn’t mean I’m going to believe you about the supernatural. How am I meant to know if you’ve actually been killed before? That seems just a little farfetched! Especially without proof!” he almost yelled indignantly. He just didn’t want to deal with… all of that

Jason could respect that.

“And as for the supernatural? I literally haven’t seen a scrap of evidence in my entire life to suggest that any of the bullshit you’re spewing is true. All I know is that my deadbeat dad who shows up about 2 times a year suddenly has two other kids and is trying to convince me that the reason he never visited or even stayed with mom is because he travels around the country fighting monsters!”

“killing,” Jason helpfully points out. “Killing monsters. Specifically, the supernatural kind. Human monsters are apparently still human and therefore untouchable. Pretty messed up if you ask me.”

Adam simply glares and points a finger. “ _You_ aren’t helping at all.” He scowled. Jason just smirked cheekily at him. “So I expect you guys to either provide either some sort of proof, or get the hell out of my house and never come back.” He points pointedly (hah!) at the door, clearly expecting them to have no evidence.

“wait!” Sam says all of a sudden. All eyes are on him and he shuffles awkwardly for a moment before speaking once more. “We told you how a demon is after the Winchesters, but we didn’t really tell you that it hadn’t gotten only to Jason. When I was a baby, the demon found us and fed me demon blood. It had some side effects.”

Then he did the most unexpected shit. He held out his hand and focused, looking as if he was constipated. At first, Jason was convinced that nothing would happen, but then the chair in the corner of the room suddenly went flying to the other side of the room. John looked absolutely furious.

“You never told me that you had these abilities!” he snarled furiously. Sam looked slightly afraid as he curled into himself. The flinch was telltale, and Jason had seen it more than enough times to know that it was the flinch of a child afraid of what their parent would do to them when they’ve broken rule.

“And what would you have done had you known? Scorned him for it? Made him afraid of the thing that he can’t control?” he scoffed, crossing his arms angrily over his chest. “He has a good reason to be afraid of you, you know. I mean, look what you did to your other son. The one who’d been the golden child up until he wasn’t and then you dropped him like dead weight. Who in their right mind would admit to their faults when they’re in an even more precarious situation?” he asked cynically.

John just glared at him, knowing full well that Jason had a point that e couldn’t refute. Meanwhile, Adam looked shaken up. “S-so you weren’t lying.” He whispered. Then a look of realization and horror crossed his face. “Wait, that means people are actually after me. Holy shit.”

Jason pursed his lips, he was far from the first person to jump at the chance to coddle someone, but Adam had been completely uninvolved. If he hadn’t been a Winchester, he never would have had to deal with any of this. He hated to admit it, but he felt kind of guilty that he was partially responsible for some kid losing his innocence. Talk about a downer. He got up from where he was still leaning his shoulder against the wall and looked a

“So now that you’re willing to talk, let’s get down to business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments promote faster updates and i kinda want this fic to be over tbh. Got a bunch of other fics to write. ughhhhh


	9. Collecting Adam

Before John could speak, Jason interrupted yet again. “Listen up, your life is going to change a lot for the next few months at the very least. You’re going to come with us so that we can protect you until you can protect yourself because like it or not you are part of this mess now.” He pointed at Adam, all traces of amusement in his expression gone.

“I don’t need any attitude from you and your hosts – my actual family – certainly won’t tolerate it, so suck it up and deal with the fact that life dealt you a shitty hand. It happens. At least you aren’t dead yet, and with our help we can probably keep it that way. Pack your things and be ready to leave. We’re heading back to Gotham to regroup and see if the local vigilantes were able to find anything that can be useful.”

Adam raised an eyebrow, “That’s it? That’s all you’re going to give me? This half assed explanation that just confuses me more? And why should I go with you?” he demanded all rapid fire. Jason had never wanted death more than in that moment.

“Are you being _deliberately_ obtuse or are you just like that naturally?” he snarked, throwing his hands up in a show of exasperation. “I literally just told you that if you don’t want to die you’ll go with us. If you have a death wish; that’s nice. I don’t care.” He said, taking a deep satisfaction in the way that the 13 year old flinched. “But John cares about you and as much as I loath to think about it, you’re leverage at this point. Demons get their hands on you then John is gonna play right into their hands. I choose life, thanks.”

Jason was about 143% done with teen brats who thought they knew best and refused to believe a figure of authority. Like, he was one of those brats once upon a time, but he’d at least had a survival instinct. Admittedly he’d gotten to where he is today with a _lot_ more knowledge than what Adam had (being raised a hunter, _raising_ another hunter, being abandoned, living off the streets on Gotham, being a crime fighting vigilante; they all left their mark even if it was a rather unconventional one) but that was no excuse for this level of difficulty.

The kid’s dad had just told him that he had enemies and that the kid’s best shot at life was to trust them. Sure, Jason wouldn’t trust it, but he’d check it out. By Adam’s age he’d been a very formidable foe indeed, so he could take care of himself. Heck, by 9 he’d been expected to take care of both himself _and_ Sammy. What a weight to put on a kid’s shoulders. In comparison this kid’s life sounded pretty good.

He’d looked at the file that Barbara had slipped him, so he knew a pretty reasonable amount about his kid brother’s life. He was an ordinary kid who was part of the loser population of the school. It wasn’t that big of a deal, considering around these parts the worst there was was a minor drug problem and some lowkey gang violence. Mostly just kids posturing and trying to prove themselves.

Adam had gotten mixed with a less than clean crowd, but it wasn’t like he didn’t fit in. The teen at least had some bite to his bark.

But yeah, Jason was fucking done with dealing with teenagers so he turned to leave. “John, I expect you back in Gotham in a couple days. I’ll be leaving now, feel free to tell Mr. Milligan whatever you feel is necessary. Make sure he knows what he’s getting into; even if he doesn’t have a choice. We’ll find you once you get to Gotham.” Then he was walking out of the door and away from all of the mess that his biological family was creating. He’d blow some stuff up once he got to Gotham and then everything would be fine.

 

* * *

 

Adam raised his other eyebrow to join the first. “Okay, what the fuck was that all about?” he asked. John didn’t even bother to reprimand him for his language. “So supernatural shit and long lost brothers with massive daddy issues. Now that I actually know that you’re serious, can I get a recap? The biker guy said a lot of shit without actually giving me anything.” Adam admitted. John sighed, before just… leaving the room and going to the kitchen, no doubt in search of booze.

Sam watched him go with a tired look in his eye that said all Adam needed to know; this was how John usually handled his problems. “I can explain some more later when we’re on route – Gotham’s about 3 days away from here – but for now you should grab whatever you’ll need to stay with us for the summer. We should be able to have you back in time for the school year, but no promises.”

Sam then proceeded to go into the hallway and open _every door he came across_ until he found Adam’s room. Then he proceeded to dig through Adam’s closet without a care in the world. No was obviously not an answer. Fucking wonderful. So Adam decided to just help him along and grabbed his sports duffle. There should be enough room for his things in there. He stuffed a lot of clothes in the bottom of the bag, followed by his baseball bat. Shoving his phone and charger in with it was second nature at this point and within 30 minutes they’d managed to pack everything he’d need.

Just as Adam was zipping up the bag, Sam’s head shot up like a dog who heard something that Adam couldn’t. “Dad is waiting for us in the car, we better hurry.” Then he rushed out of the room. This alarmed Adam. Sure John had never been the greatest father to him, however Sam seemed either genuinely afraid or conditioned enough that he followed John’s orders without question. That worried him.

What the fuck was he getting into?

 

* * *

 

It took them the expected 3 days to drive to Gotham, and within those 3 days, Adam was given the run down of the family business by Sam while John stayed stonily silent in the front of the car. By the end of the three days, Adam felt a little more confident in his knowledge of the supernatural. But there was only so much intel that they had on demons, so he was fresh out of luck on the things that actually did affect him.

Wonderful.

Once they actually got to Gotham, they then chose to drive around for a good 30 minutes aimlessly. When Adam asked why, John just got this tight lipped look, so Adam wisely chose to drop it. That’s when a motorcycle appeared out of fucking nowhere in front of them. The rider wore a bright red helmet with white eye slits and a heavy duty leather jacket. When the rider twisted around to look at them, Adam was able to glimpse a red bat symbol on his chest. Adam somehow recognized the man as Jason.

Then Jason gunned it and rode off into the distance, closely followed by John and the impala. They drove for quite a bit, going through the woods into what felt like the middle of nowhere. Then Jason and his motorcycle just seemed to disappear behind an outcropping of rocks. It was dark out so it was near impossible to see what was going on. John, seemed confident enough and drove behind the same rock, going right through the waterfall without care.

“Wait… so where are we going exactly? Jason said something about the local vigilantes–“ he cut himself off the gawk at their surroundings. He didn’t even notice John parking because he was too busy being interested by the batcave. He was in the motherfucking _batcave_. Yoooooooooooo!

“You mean we’re actually working with _the_ Batman?!” he asked excitedly. Sam nodded before gesturing for Adam to continue moving forwards.

“They’re right through there. We should get moving.” Adam took a moment to compose himself before – at least attempting to – calmly striding through the hallway. Time to face the music and do his best to not make a fool out of himself.

 

* * *

 

Jason made it back a grand total of 3 hours before the Winchesters did. He spent that time catching up on his patrol and getting some intel from his contacts. It wasn’t as enlightening as he’d hoped, but no one in his network had seen anything even remotely demonic. But then again, they were in the heart of Crime Alley so just about everything and nothing could be an indication of demonic activity. It was great. Jason loved Gotham.

He was able to meet John with his impala as the car had been making a circuit around upper Gotham. He simply lead the car back to one of the cave entrances that hid the location and is where Batman had all visitors enter through so that they didn’t suspect his true identity. He parked his motorcycle and walked to stand beside Dick and Barbara. Dick was in his police uniform – most likely in preparation for Adam’s arrival; an effort to provide a security blanket? To threaten Adam because they had law enforcement on their side? It was unclear. Barbara had settled on her usual day to day dress choice and was typing away at her own personal laptop, probably working on some school work while she waited for the Winchesters to arrive.

Bruce was sitting in his bat suit and sharpening a batarang. He was going full intimidation. Lovely. A couple minutes later the three Winchesters walked in, standing with their backs to a wall and opposite to the bat family. Adam was staring at everything with incredibly wide eyes. His eyes damn near fell out of his head at the sight of the Dark Knight sitting in the corner of the massive room.

“Mr. Milligan, I hope your travel was pleasant. It’s a pleasure to meet more of Jason’s biological family.” Barbara broke the silence with a calm and soothing voice. She was by far the least visually threatening person in the room and it was obvious that Adam thought that she fit what her looks showed about her. He relaxed minutely and the tension in his shoulders left. Dick smiled at his longtime girlfriend and then turned to face Adam.

“Hi!” he said brightly, completely contrasting everything else in the cave. “My name is Richard Grayson but you can call me Dick, and I’m Jason’s older brother. This is Barbara Gordon, my girlfriend and the former Batgirl and over there is Batman.” Dick said, introducing everyone. Adam nodded to show that he understood and then they all sat in silence. Bruce he understood, but everyone else? It was just plain awkward at this point. Nobody knew what to say now that everyone was here. How typical.

“So how in the hell – pun totally intended by the way – are we supposed to gank these suckers?” Dick asked suddenly. Everyone in the room (save Bruce of course because that bitch couldn’t be bothered to show emotion) looked baffled as they tried to think of what they could possibly do to… well do something about their situation.

While Jason had less than happy memories of his time with the League of Shadows, there was one good outcome from the entire ordeal. Talia, while the one who had been responsible for the fact that he was even with the League of Shadows, wasn’t the one who was in charge of how he spent his stay. She mainly handled his teachers, claiming that she wanted to prepare him.

For what she hadn’t said, but Jason couldn’t help but suspect that she’d known about his supernatural origins.

But Talia had been looking out for him, hiding him from her father when things became a little… too much. No, she wasn’t kind, she just wasn’t as bad as the rest of them. It was probably in an effort to manipulate him, but he had been grateful all the same. So Talia had a soft spot for him – as soft as a spot that can be had by a _fucking assassin._

This soft spot might just be saving their asses.

“So… I might have a contact that can get us a weapon, or at least some information. She dabbles in everything and is pretty high up as far as authority goes. She’ll have _something_.” He said after a time. Dick frowned.

“You don’t mean… Talia… do you?” he asked uncertainly, “because I don’t know if that’s such a good idea, Jaybird.” He crossed his arms uncomfortably over his chest, highlighting just how muscular he was with his police uniform. Whether it was just unconscious posturing or if it was Dick intentionally trying to be a peacock, but it certainly caught 13 year old Adam’s attention.

If it was intentional then Dick was certainly doing a good job of easing Adam’s worries. Adam was _thirteen_ and he shouldn’t be getting involved in demons and shit. Dick was naturally over protective, so Jason really wouldn’t be all that surprised if Dick was doing this to coddle Adam. Sure Damian was younger than Adam, but he’d been raised in the closest place Jason had ever been, to hell.

John eyed his youngest son with suspicion. Adam’s ogling clearly hadn’t gone unnoticed by the hyper aware baby boomer that Jason had the unfortunate right to call a sperm-donor. Looks like Adam may have some latent homosexual tendencies and daddy dearest wasn’t too happy with it.

“What other choice do we have, Dick? We have no other leads, and you know that Talia is bound to have something.” Jason argued. He didn’t like it any better than Dick appeared to, but they were desperate. Demons weren’t going to wait for the opposition to be ready.

“But at what cost, Jay? What’s Talia going to ask of you? Favours are a dangerous thing to owe.” Dick was getting worked up now. Jason had underestimated just how much Dick didn’t like this idea. He’d been about to retort with some scathing remark, when a young voice spoke up from the corner of the room.

“Who’s Talia?” Adam stared at the room with wide eyes that were innocent enough to better fit someone much younger than he was. He had an almost adorable look of confusion on his face as he cocked his head o the side almost like a puppy.

Jason frowned and glared at Dick as if it was his fault that his kid brother was questioning it. Honestly he was kind of glad that Damian at least knew what he was doing, even if he was an insufferable prat. “You don’t need to be concerned about who she is. All you need to know is that she is our best shot.” He glowered at the kid.

Adam shrank back, obviously not used to being glared at. John placed a hand on Adam’s shoulder, pushing the kid behind himself as he glared at Jason in a challenging manner. “Yeah? And what if that’s not good enough? How am I supposed to be able to trust this source?” John demanded.

“Well, hate to break it to ya Mr. Famous Hunter, but whether or not you feel like you can trust the fact that I want to save my own skin really isn’t my problem.” He sneered before walking over to stand by the hallway beside the glass case with his uniform in it. He touched the glass gently, staring at the name.

“Believe me,” he muttered, “I know what the other side is like, and I don’t plan on returning anytime soon.” Then he pulled out his phone and continued to walk away, not caring about how everyone in the room would react. He had a call to make.


	10. Contacting Talia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk why Adam is gay now... but he is. And hooker!Jason is making yet another appearance in one of my fics. Gotta love that personal headcanon that I shove down everyone's throat.
> 
> ...chapter titles suck. pls read the end notes.

Adam didn’t really understand everything that was happening, but he got that Jason had just made a reference to his untimely death. He also got that it was a pretty sore subject for everyone who was in the cave, save Sam. But that really didn’t surprise him that much. Sam seemed almost as confused as he was, which lowkey pissed Adam off.

Sam had had the luxury of knowing all about the history of what was happening. They’d decided to tell _him_ only about 3 days before. Thirteen years of life expecting that he’d turn out to be ordinary and dreading the next time that his dead-beat dad decided to show his face. Now he had to fear for his life because his entire family was being hunted by demons?!

This wasn’t what he’d thought he’d be doing with his summer before high school. Not at all.

“Is anybody going to actually explain what is going on here?!” He nearly shrieked. He was 20 different kinds of confused and no one had given him any straight answers and what answers that he was given just confused him more. Batman – and Adam still couldn’t believe that he was actually in the batcave and his eldest brother was a vigilante working with _Batman_ – hadn’t bothered to even address him in all this time and instead just turned and began doing… _something_ on his computer.

John and Sam shifted uncomfortably and looked down at the ground. Adam had thought that his family was shit before but now they couldn’t even explain themselves? He felt like he was part of some stupid tv series or something. No way was this reality. There was certainly enough cameras, and this wouldn’t be the first time that Adam had been punked.

The wheelchair bound woman smiled grimly before reaching up and squeezing the police officer’s – was his name Dick? It was something offensive, he remembered that much. Definitely not something that one would expect a police officer to have – arm in reassurance. “What do you want to know?” she asked softly, her gentle voice echoing across the cave loud enough for them all to hear.

“Starting from the beginning would be nice. I basically got the crash course ‘demons are real, your family is involved so that means you are too and guess what your eldest brother is involved in some things that have managed to get him killed but he’s back’ talk, but I’d like a little bit more of an elaboration on that. I got the demons and supernatural from the Winchesters, but I still don’t get what’s Jason’s damage?”

Dick smiled softly and squeezed Barbara’s hand back before straightening up from his relaxed position. “Well it’s a long story, but Jason will be a while if he’s actually calling _her._ Telling you should be fine.” Dick admitted. “I’ll do my best to simplify it.” Then he launched into quite the tale.

“When Jason was 9 years old, he made a mistake and accidentally endangered Sam’s life while your dad was on a hunt. John hadn’t been too happy and left Jason to his own devices. Jason somehow ended up in Gotham where he took the name. Then he lived on the streets for a couple of years, at least before Batman found him.”

Well shit. Adam wasn’t as naïve as people liked to think, and he knew some things about living on the street. He’d run away a couple times in the past 3 years, so he knew that the streets weren’t the safest. But Gotham. That was a whole new level of hell that Adam was glad to have not experienced. Living on the streets for a couple weeks at a time as a tween was hard enough. But at 9 years old? For a solid couple of years? And in _Gotham_ of all places. That must have been hell.

Jason was stronger than he’d given him credit for.

“And that’s a pretty funny story too. Jason is quite the street savvy guy, so of course he was working the streets like any born and raised Gothamite would. One day he was a little too daring and he tried to steal the tires off of the Batmobile. Batman was impressed and took him on as a protégé. Then he made sure he had a home by asking his… ally Bruce Wayne to adopt him. Hence why he’s my adoptive brother.”

Shit, that means that his suspicions were correct. It was in the way that Jason carried himself. Sure he had the dangerous prowl of a predator and he was physically imposing, but the signs were all there. Adam didn’t like to admit this, but his friends weren’t exactly the cleanest crowd, so he had quite a few friends (his age too) who were walking the streets to make ends meet. In Gotham that would be only too common. But Adam knew how the prostitutes acted and Jason had some of the telltale traits.

He wore tight and revealing clothes – as much as was reasonable anyways without being noticed (noticeably) by any of the others in this cave. That could be explained away, but the way he wore them with a cool confidence and the way that they complimented him a little too well (Adam was not going to deny that his brother was _hot._ That ass should be _illegal_ and that wasn’t even mentioning Dick’s) to be a coincidence.

Then there was the way that he stood and walked, and just his general body language. It wasn’t feminine per say – because Jason was certainly very masculine (almost overly so even) – but certainly a little out there. The way he stands juts his hips out a little and shows off his muscles while still being subtle. He rolls his feet while he walks almost as if he was wearing heels which gives him that extra edge when trying to be silent. This made his hips sway in a way that showed off his ass and made Adam question his morals.

(Jason was his brother, but Adam’s gay self was _not_ going to say that Jason wasn’t hot.

It’s a pity that Dick was dating the hot red head who was wheelchair bound. Such a pity indeed. All the hot ones were either family or straight. Woe is him.)

Jason also had confrontational issues and he basically had daddy-issues written on his forehead. He was the opposite of subtle. Adam guessed it stemmed back from John basically abandoning him to the streets when he was 9 and went right up to being compared to golden elder brother Dick (Adam had known the guy for like 5 minutes and he could already tell that Dick had been the golden child that everyone envied) by Bruce Wayne.

Jason was in your face and not afraid to show it. Defensive and self-protective. He was overly in control and it showed just how little he trusted people; how little he let anyone even touch him. So yeah, Jason being a street kid made a lot of sense.

It also made Adam grateful for his own childhood.

“Jason adapted well, although by then I was out of the house after having had a massive falling out with Bruce. I moved to Bludhaven to study to join the BPD, so I didn’t see too much of Jason’s years after moving into the manor and becoming Robin. From what Barbara tells me, he was good at his job, but he had a skewed moral compass that often got in the way.” Dick continued, oblivious to Adam’s long inner monologue.

“Then he was killed by the Joker when he was 14. Batman didn’t make it in time.”

Adam winced as he glanced over at the assuming figure in the shadows. The vigilante was tense but he hadn’t stopped typing whatever it was he was typing. “A couple years later, Jason returned to Gotham after being resurrected by Talia Al’Ghul. A menace on a good day and your worst nightmare on a bad day. She’s the second in command for the world’s most secretive gang. Once you tangle with the League of Shadows you don’t escape with your life. No matter how good you think you are.”

This was when Barbara stepped in. “Jason did some freelancing when he first got to Gotham and he made quite the name for himself. He was the Red Hood, taking on one of the Joker’s old aliases in a fit of sentiment. His ultimate goal? To avenge his own death since he felt wronged. But that never happened and instead he got control over crime alley and welcomed back into the fold of the Batfamily with open arms.” She said, “then John appeared and everything went to hell again. Now he’s going to have to ask a favour from that damn woman and that will never end well. For anyone.”

Adam stewed for a moment, thinking over the story he’d just heard. It was an awful lot condensed into a couple minutes and it wasn’t like they went out of their way to be clear. It was all very vague with no details. But it was still better than what he had before. Once he finished processing, he turned to John.

“So let me get this straight, not only do you manage to have a kid not even 3 years into your crazy vengeance quest – that you dragged your 6 month old and your 4 year old into – after your wife was brutally murdered, but a couple years after that you _abandon_ your 9 year old kid? What the fuck???” he demanded, completely outraged. His mother had ranted for years that John had been no good and he was one of her biggest mistakes. Now he could see why.

“Language.” Dick muttered, completely ignored by everyone in the room.

John flinched, looking away from Adam and Sam’s accusing eyes. He refused to meet anyone’s eyes as he shuffled in place. “It was a mistake to abandon Dean. I was angry and he’d fucked up.” Adam raised an eyebrow.

“That wasn’t just any fuck up, _dad_. That was the fuck up to end all fuck ups. Seriously, what the hell were you thinking? What gave you the right? No wonder the demons picked this messed up family. They barely have to raise a finger and we destroy ourselves.” Adam sneered, crossing his arms in annoyance as an awkward silence fell over the room. The oppressive silence only being broken by the sound of keys clacking and the dim hum of technology.

 

* * *

 

Jason growled as he exited the room and walked a couple feet down the hallway. He knew that Bruce had the entire place bugged, but he at least wanted the semblance of privacy for this conversation. At the very least the Winchesters would not be listening in. It would be opening a lot of old unmentioned wounds just by talking to the woman. She better have something for him or he was going to blow something up out of sheer frustration.

He dialed the phone and held it impatiently to his ear, pacing a couple feet in the narrow hallway. He started speaking as soon as he heard someone pick up. “Talia, it’s Jason. What can you tell me about killing demons?” There was no point in beating around the bush if this was to be their topic of conversation. She would hang up otherwise. There was a slight hesitation on the line before she spoke up.

 _“Hello Jason dear, I’ve been fine thanks for asking.”_ She said almost snootily, but she was too sophisticated for that. _“What on earth have you gotten yourself into now?”_ Jason sighed, of course she had to pry. She would never just hand over information, no matter who it was.

“Biological family’s ghosts have decided to haunt me.” He admitted. “I’m being hunted by the one who ordered my original hit and now I need to kill it before it kills me and everyone around me.” The unspoken threat was there. Whether Talia liked it or not, Damian was involved and a target. She would have to help if she cared at all about her child.

He could just hear her purse her lips from the other end. _“Very well then, Mr. Todd. I’ll tell you what I can. Not much is known about demons, even to us. And ways to kill a demon are even less known. But you’re in luck. I just so happen to have a weapon that you can use.”_ Her voice was crisp and professional, no emotions betrayed by any influx in her tone at all. She was seemingly completely unaffected and Jason almost envied her lack on involvement.

Who would have thought they’d see the day that Jason would envy Talia Al’Ghul.

He remained silent, waiting for her to continue. _“We got our hands on something that called itself an angel a couple years back. Shortly after you left. The blade it had with it was able to kill just about everything. I have no doubt it will solve your demon problem.”_ She assured him. Somehow that wasn’t as comforting as it should have been. Even from Talia.

“And how much would I owe you?” Jason wasn’t stupid despite what Tim liked to believe. He knew everything came with a price. Right now he was about willing to pay anything if the Winchesters would just _stay_ gone from his life. He’d even play nice with Dick.

 _”Oh don’t be foolish, Jason. We’re far past that now,”_ she said in a lilting tone, _“just keep my son out of it and we’ll be square. Expect the blade to arrive at your safe house in 2 days. You know the one._ ” Then she hung up with a click from the receiver. He pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it offended. Talia just hung up on him.

Oh well, time to tell the people the good news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We may be nearing the thrilling conclusion??? Idk I didn't want this one to be as long as my other one so I'm trying to power through. ALSO two updates in one day motherfuckers! I have on exam left and I'm trying to power through this shit but it's hard. Hopefully it will be finished by the end of the summer!
> 
> Pls comment, it gives me motivation. And since things are coming to a conclusion, if there's anything that you want me to include pls say so now and I'll do my best.


	11. Brotherly Bonding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woo a long ass chapter and a really speedy update! Yasss, it's been like 4 days. Also! I have like half of another chapter done so look forward to another update soon. I'm on a roll and I hope it doesn't stop soon!

When he walked back into the cave, he doesn’t really know what he was expecting. What he got was a silent room (not in the way that made it look like they had been listening in – although Jason just _knew_ that Bruce had been – but in the way like someone had just dropped some heavy knowledge and no one knew what to do now) and a bunch of awkward people.

Dick was staring forlornly at the glass case where his uniform sat and Barbara had started typing away at her laptop once more. John was taping his foot impatiently while he watched Sam and Adam whisper to each other with a hawk like gaze. Bruce was just staring at where Jason was walking from intently. He clearly knew what Jason would say already, but he had nothing better to do.

That’s when he did something actually surprising. “Jason,” he rasped in his deep Batman voice. “Keep me updated.” Then he swept his cape and proceeded to stalk towards the batmobile. Jason checked his phone and saw that yeah it was beginning to get around the time for Bruce to be out on patrol, and he wasn’t about to miss a night even though Tim and Damian were going to be there.

Jason’s suspicions were confirmed when two shapes fell from the ceiling and followed Bruce closely. John nearly jumped out of his skin at the appearance of Red Robin and Robin. They both looked dangerous and cold, all sharp edges and shadows. They didn’t even bother to spare the Winchesters a glance before they hoped onto their respective vehicles (Robin with Batman in the batmobile, and Tim on his own modified motorcycle) and left the cave together.

“Wow, that’s the first words he’s said all night.” Adam said suddenly, breaking the harsh silence. Jason inwardly sighed, this kid was going to be the death of him. Seriously he was 10 kinds of awkward and about 7 kinds of useless. His presence here was not good, however if the enemy got their hands on him then things would go to shit real quick. And right now the cave was the safest place for him to be, as much as he loathed too admit it.

Jason pretended that Adam hadn’t spoken. “Okay, so I have some intel. Talia wasn’t all that forthcoming–“ he was cut off by Dick muttering under his breath.

“Not surprising” he was then elbowed in the ribs by Barbara so Jason let it be.

He coughed, “bUT, she was able to give me a weapon that can _most likely_ kill a demon. And before you get your panties in a twist let’s just appreciate that we have a ‘most likely’ right now.” He said, staring John down in an obvious way of letting him know that the last comment was directed towards him. Ah, picking on John just never got old. Gotta love the fam.

“It will be arriving in a couple days at a secure location, and baring all curve balls, all we have left to do is to actually track down the yellow bastard.” He said, turning to look over at Barbara. “Can you look for him with the information that John’s given you? And _dad_ , if you could contact your people to find the demon.” It wasn’t a question and John knew it. He pursed his lips and nodded.

“I’ll see what I can do. We’ll be staying at a motel somewhere outside of Gotham. I’m sure we’ll be in contact.” Then he placed a heavy hand on Sam and Adam’s shoulders and steered them out of the cave and back to the impala. He didn’t bother to wait for Jason’s okay, and honestly his decision was probably the best of the lot.

The three other Winchesters would not be welcome to stay at the Wayne manor, and they can’t stay in the cave. That left either staying somewhere in Gotham – which really wasn’t an option with how dangerous Gotham was on a good day and the fact that no where would be safe for civilians – and staying somewhere out of Gotham. Outside of Gotham was probably the safest, and it wasn’t like things could go that badly on their first night. They’d spent three nights with Adam already, it couldn’t be that bad could it?

John _was_ a capable hunter. Right?

 

 

Nope, he wasn’t going to let them just leave right now. Adam was still new to everything and he was _not_ going to only have John as a source of information. Nope, that wasn’t going to fly. “John!” he called, hearing the scuff of boots on dirt as the three Winchesters stopped. “Leave Sam and Adam. I’ll drop ‘em off at whatever motel you choose sometime tonight. Don’t bother to wait up.” For a moment, Jason thought he’d continue to strong arm the younger Winchester kids into the car.

But then he tensely lifted his hands from the teens’ shoulders, all the while never turning to face Jason. “If they are hurt… it’s on your head.” And wow that’s the closest to caring he’s ever heard John be. The two boys quickly scuttled over to Jason before John can change his mind, and then John leaves. Jason turned to Dick.

“I’ll be taking them ‘round Gotham for a bit. Keep on the lookout but I should be back in time to brief Batman, Red Robin and Robin when they get back.” He says before digging around in his leather jacket pocket. “Is the jeep still where I left it?” he asked as he started walking towards where they kept the street vehicles.

Dick nodded in confirmation. “Yeah, Babs and I’ll stay here and hold the fort. I’ll call you if anything important comes up.” Jason nodded and turned to his two brothers.

“Come on boys. It’s time for some family bonding without dear old dad to get in the way!”

 

* * *

 

The first stop that they made was at Jason’s favourite Chinese place. He’d saved the owners life the year before and in exchange he was welcomed at the restaurant with open hours anytime of the day. They treated him and his guests as priority and it was almost a safe haven after a particularly tough patrol. The owner was a kind woman and he was always sure to leave a good tip.

“Okay, so we’ll be going to a secure location to talk for a bit. Then I’ll show you around my Gotham.” He said to the two teens who sat in the back of the beat up old jeep. Adam and Sam sat quietly, although the both of them were looking out of the windows in awe. Jason knew the feeling. When he’d first gotten here, he’d thought it looked an awful lot like New York City, only darker.

The buildings were grand and the city was always busy. But the farther into lower Gotham you got, the darker the city got. The transition was something that could be taken out of fiction and it was always fun to see someone’s first reaction. Lower Gotham is probably the worst place in North America, but Jason loved it all the same.

It was his element and the place that he knew the best. He had all the contacts he needed to make things safe enough for him, and he’d been living out of Crime Alley since he was 9 years old. He was a street kid through and through even though he’d spent his youngest years on the road.

He parked in a back alley next to the owners car before confidently leading his two brothers into the restaurant. It was small place, more of a hole in the wall than an actual restaurant, but it had good food and good company. Jason had handled many meetings here and everything was all very discreet. Nobody would eavesdrop on them here.

“Hello? It’s Jason and some guests, May!” he called into the small restaurant. It had a surprising amount of depth and the front tables were all filled with bustling families speaking in various oriental languages. A young server girl rushed forwards and greeted Jason with a bright smile.

“Jason! Hǎojǐu bújiàn _(long time no see)_ , nǐ hǎo ma _(how are you)_?” she asked in a charming manner. Jason smiled at her, relaxing slightly as he responded.

“May! It’s been too long and I’ve been doing okay. Would you mind getting us a table in the back?” he said gently, much to the surprise of his younger brothers. The girl, May, beamed at him before turning to the two younger brothers.

“Right this way!” she said with a slightly stilted English with a thick and heavy accent. Yet she was still understandable as she called through a door that no doubt lead to the kitchen. “Zhè shì jiǎ sēn, tā yǒu yīxiē kèrén _(it’s Jason! And he has some guests)_ Make usual! Plus extra!” Then she gestured towards a table at the very back of the restaurant with a clear view of all of the exits. Jason sat with his back towards the wall as Sam and Adam sat across from him.  

“Thank you, May.” He said as they all got comfortable.

“We’ll have your food in a couple of minutes.” She told the table, looking at Jason pointedly and then turned back to man the front of house.

“So… you promised explanations?” Adam began uncertainly only to be cut off by Jason holding up his hand.

“Ah! No discussing business until the food’s arrived. I’ll talk more then.” After that they fell into yet another awkward silence. Luckily it wasn’t much longer before May came back with two platters piled high with various types of dim sum. Once May had left, he leaned forwards to start his explanation. “Okay, so I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about me from both John and Dick or Barbara. But what exactly did they tell you?” he asked after taking the food that he typically likes to eat and gesturing for Sam and Adam to follow suit.

The two younger teens looked a little nervously at each other but didn’t outright object. Adam just dug into his food with gusto and pointedly looked at Sam to speak. Sam sighed and glared at Adam before turning to Jason. “Honestly? There wasn’t a whole lot that he told us. He basically gave us the crash course on you. So he covered the fact that you lived on the streets and the fact that you became Robin and then you were killed. Somehow you came back, and here we are.”

Adam got a dawning look of realization on his face. “I remember that! It was on the news even in my town because the Joker made such a big deal out of killing the Batman’s beloved protégé.” Then he blushed as he seemed to realize what he had just said. “No offense. It was just big news; a lot of my friends are obsessed with Gotham’s vigilantes and villains. It’s so much like a comic you see. And to hear that you actually came back from the dead and took on the old name of your murderer? That’s sound like the plot line of superhero comic.”

Jason laughed quietly, much to Adam’s relief. “Yeah, it does sound like a bloody sign, doesn’t it?” he grinned and bit into his food. “So you basically got the crash course. Do you have any questions? We won’t be able to talk much about the sensitive identity stuff later where we’ll be going, so you might as well talk now. And no,” he continued, “I won’t be telling you where we’re going next because it’s a surprise.”

Sam pouted, pulling out the hurt puppy dog eyes, but Jason had ‘grown up’ with Dick Grayson’s puppy dog face and Sam had nothing on him. At Jason’s deadpan look, Sam conceded. “Fine,” he sighed, “well I did have some questions concerning what actually happened when Da–“ he cleared his throat before correcting himself, “John left you behind.”

Jason sighed, of course that’s what they were going to ask about. Jason had a feeling that a lot of sensitive topics would be covered today. “Ah. That. So I’m assuming you’ve received the basis on how I messed up. We were on a hunt… and well… I was supposed to watch you. I made a mistake and you, Sammy, almost payed for it. Needless to say, John was far from pleased. He got angry and he packed you up and left me behind with some money and not so much as a goodbye.”

He smiled bitterly as the two brothers watched him enraptured with food hanging from their mouths in their focus on his words. “Well, we’d stopped in Gotham once when I was younger and I made friends with a street kid. His name was Jason Todd.” Adam’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head at that. It was certainly a surprise, considering that’s how Adam knew Jason to be. As far as he knew, Jason Todd was his older brother, not some random stranger. Sam had known his older brother to be Dean Winchester, so the name Jason Todd had seemed a bit strange, however he had thought that Jason had just chosen a new name out of the blue.

To forget who he was; to start over.

“I came to Gotham because I thought that I would know someone that I could stay with. Jason had had a shit life, and I knew I could trust him to help me make mine less of a hot mess. But when I got here, he had been dead for a while. Perils of living on the streets in Gotham.” He sighed and put down his chopsticks to take a sip of water. “So I took his name and made a new life for myself. I wasn’t Dean Winchester, the son of a traveling hunter anymore. Now I was some street kid who didn’t need anyone else to survive.”

“The rest is history. I stole the tires off the batmobile to try and make a buck or two. Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat, ya know? But then I got caught and I got hired.” He smiled wistfully, looking over the teen’s head as he remembered the ‘good ol’ days’. “My days as Robin were some of the best in my life. I miss how things were, but I’m content with my life now; even if it wasn’t quite what I originally thought that it would be.”

“Damn demon possessed the Joker and pushed that much farther over the edge. With his new insanity and devil on the shoulder, he got rid of the loose end of a Winchester.” Adam nervously looked up at Jason.

“I’ve said before how my friends were big fans; well so am I. Can you tell us about your favourite memories from your time as Robin?” he asked shyly. Jason positively beamed. Now that, that he could talk about. His family tended to stay away from his past for fear of setting him off, but he didn’t regret any of his time in the past. The only thing that he’d ever been angry about was the thought that it hadn’t meant anywhere near as much to Bruce as it had to him.

“Alright. Let me tell you about the first time that Dick came back to Gotham after deciding that he had outgrown being the sidekick…” he began, spending the next few hours regaling tale after animated tale to his two younger brothers. By the end of it, they all felt much more at ease and comfortable with each other.

“Xièxie _(thank you)_ , May. I’ll see you later!” he called as they left the store. He ushered the two teens into the jeep and they were off, only stopping briefly at a warehouse to pick up a bunch of large garbage bags. Sam and Adam decided not to question it as they eagerly looked out the window, anxious to see where Jason would take them next. Only about 15 minutes of tense driving – lower Gotham’s streets were filled with douche nozzles who couldn’t drive and Jason had a lot of road rage – they made it to another nondescript warehouse.

They sent him dual confused looks as he handed them each a hand full of bags before putting on a black domino mask that actually did a surprising amount to disguise his identity. “Okay, so a heads up, you’re going to have to not refer to me by my name while we’re here. Right now, I’m the Red Hood and you’re two people I’m watching as a favour for a bit. Let’s call you my friends for now, ok?” They nodded and began to follow him cautiously, lugging the backs along with them.

What they were greeted with really surprised them. Upon entering the warehouse, they saw about 20 children, the youngest being around 8 and the eldest couldn’t be older than Sam. They were dirty and grimy; however, they were so happy to see Jason. It was obvious in the way that their faces just seemed to light up upon seeing Jason. “Red!” as small red headed little girl shrieked as she launched herself at the bag laden anti-hero.

He grinned as he effortlessly swung the girl around and hugged her back. “Hey there, Lisa! Sorry I haven’t visited for a while, but things have been pretty crazy lately.” He said, directing the rest of the statement towards all the other street kids.

Lisa pouted, “yeah, when the Scarecrow broke out everyone was terrified. We didn’t leave here for days.”

Jason smiled softly. “That’s good, you listened to what I told you. Remember, you don’t need to try to be a hero because the entire Bat family is here to protect you guys. Just focus on surviving for now.” He reminded them, that’s when he turned to gesture to the Winchesters. “Speaking of surviving, I have some friends in town and they’re here to help me deliver some goods for you guys!”

There was an audible cheer as everyone eagerly dug into the bags that the Winchesters had set down, pulling out bags of food (that would keep for a long time and was suitable for street life) clothes, and other things that are basic needs for young teens. Sam and Adam sat back as they watched their older brother interact with all the children in awe. His standoffish and hostile attitude had seemingly completely vanished as soon as he’d walked into the warehouse.

And while he was still a bit gruff, the street rats didn’t seem bothered by it at all. They felt almost like they didn’t belong here, like they were watching something they shouldn’t be. But that’s when Jason turned around and smiled at them, gesturing for them to join the gaggle of excited teens.

 

* * *

 

It was late at night when Jason drove them to a motel outside of Gotham. When asked how he knew where to go, he simply responded with a sly smirk. Deciding that it would be a waste of time to try and get any more out of him, they dropped it. Just like half of the things that they tried to talk to anyone about lately… However, other than some moments that were a little tense, it was a great bonding experience.

They got to see Jason in a new light, and it was nice to just not have to worry about their lives right then. Adam in particular, had latched onto Jason, seeing him as the older brother that he’d always wanted. He’d been an only child all his life and never really had a strong male figure in his life. Well, at least one that wasn’t a piece of shit.

Jason walked them to the door, laughing quietly at something that Sam had said. “Well, it’s been fun, but it’s time to return you to your father. I’ll be in touch.” He said, clapping them both on the back and turning around to walk back to the jeep.

“But what if we get attacked? Wouldn’t we be safer with you?” Adam pleaded, staring up at Jason with the puppy dog eyes. Sam was quick to follow suit. Jason rolled his eyes but he ruffled their hair in a reassuring manner.

“I may not like John, but he’s a capable hunter. He’s certainly made enough ripples in the hunter community to gain a dangerous reputation. Trust him, you’ll be safe.”


	12. The Video

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so there might be a bit of a wait between now and the next update... my laptop screen is smashed (the lil bro got a hold of it and now the screen is destroyed. Idek how he managed but he did) and I need to get it repaired. This is literally the only place I have my files saved so idk when I'll be able to write this again. I'll probably get some oneshots done tho, so subscribe to my actual account if you like my writing style. Check out my other works and I do take requests.

Wrong. So very very wrong.

At first things had been going great. Barbara was looking for the yellow eyed demon, Dick was not being a dick for once, the Winchester Trio had stayed out of the way, and things were going pretty well as far as they were concerned. As promised, the weapon had showed up at Jason’s League safe house a couple days after. Jason hadn’t let the silver dagger out of his sight since then.

As soon as he’d picked up the blade he’d been able to feel the power that radiated off of it. He dreaded to think about what could happen if the blade was lost. Exorcising this demon wouldn’t be enough. So things were looking up, but then a couple days later everything went to shit and they were royally screwed.

They hadn’t heard all that much from John, just the occasional check in to let them know of the progress. But then they’d stopped communicating altogether for an entire fucking day. That was fine. It wasn’t like it was that big of a deal right? Maybe they just forgot to check in.

Nope.

Those fuckers.

So Jason was already fucking suspicious, but because he thought that maybe, just _maybe_ , John was actually capable of handling himself. But Jason was also a suspicious bastard so of course he’d planted a tracker in the impala. It hadn’t moved from its place in the parking lot at a chain motel for more than 38 hours now. That was cause enough for concern, since the week before that had led Jason to believe that John was a busy body who drove very frequently and never stayed in once place for over 12 hours if he could help it. Those 12 hours also happened to be the time that he spent asleep.

So Jason decided that he was going to go and check on them. He took his motorcycle and his more discreet helmet and he was off. Within an hour he was there and it wasn’t exactly hard to find out where they were staying. The impala was parked in front of a room and a simple question to the front desk confirmed that the family were staying in that room. It also confirmed that no one had gone in or left the room in over 24 hours and the front desk was getting a bit worried, but they hadn’t checked the room or the car yet.

Good, if it was a crime scene it wouldn’t be disturbed by the staff.

He carefully walked towards the room, taking into consideration the fact that the blinds had been drawn although undisturbed. The door though undamaged, was cracked open just slightly. That was worrying indeed. He carefully pushed on the door and it swung open without resistance. At the edge of the door frame was a messily broken, spilling salt all over the doorway. Compared to the perfectly clean and orderly outside, the room looked as if a hurricane had hit it.

The beds were unmade and looked as if someone had rolled around in the sheets with a bad sleep. The lamp was broken over the floor and all the other furniture was either tipped over or broken. The room was a mess and there were open suitcases with clothes strewn about. It looked like there had been a fight in the room. This was understandably very concerning for Jason.

That’s when he spotted something precariously perched on the leg of a tipped over table. Careful not to touch anything, he made his way over to the table where he picked up the object that was waiting for him. It was a digital camera with a paper note carefully taped to the camera.

He gently peeled the paper open, glad that he’d worn gloves. Even if the demon was just riding a meat suit, they could attempt to find said meat suit. Two words were penned delicately onto the lined piece of paper in a neat cursive.

_“Watch me.”_

Thank god the impala wasn’t the only thing that Jason had planted a tracker on. They were small and almost unnoticeable, and he’d planted multiple on each of the other Winchesters, so maybe he’d be able to find them. First thing’s first though, he’d have to get back to the cave and gather the bat clan. They had a tape to watch and analyze.

 

* * *

 

Jason carefully unplugged a spare laptop – he vaguely recognized it as the one that Dick had used for porn when they were teenagers – from the mainframe and then connected the digital camera. He’d seen _Skyfall_ (when those idiots that he has the unfortunate pleasure of calling brothers forced him in for a movie night) and he wasn’t about to make the same mistakes as Q did. That would be stupid and amateur. He was not new to this particular rodeo, considering he’d left the same type of virus for other people he was better prepared this time.

Then once the damn open files pop up showed up, he clicked on the most recent file. Well, the only file really. It was a single video. The video opened with a black screen and the sound of static. But then a slimy and sinister voice began to speak as the camera whirled around to reveal a face.

 _“Why, hello! It’s been a while… Jason.”_ The man that spoke fit the voice very well. He was a thin stick of a man who looked just as sickly as he sounded. His teeth were almost all rotten, and his bloodshot eyes had massive bags under them. His hair was receding, and what was still left was all salt and pepper. All of this was amplified by the insane look in his eyes and the toothy grin he sported.

Jason knew that face. It wasn’t something one would easily forget. He’d been his first ‘client’. The man had found him on the streets when he was 10 maybe 11. The exact date had been scrubbed from his mind by the Lazarus, but he’d never forget the grin that this man had worn as he’d had his way, then dumped him in a back alley with a 5 dollar bill.

 _“You might be a bit surprised by my meat suit. I assure you, I know all about your history with this particular man. All my vessels have some meaning after all. But I was surprised to see you top side again. How rude of you, after all the work I put into your death.”_ The man fake pouted, wrinkling his face in a disgusting manner that only succeeded in making him even more unsettling.

The demon just made Jason’s skin crawl and ignited his bloodlust like no other. Unfortunately, the demon either didn’t know how to properly use a camera or this was on purpose, because the only thing within the frame was the man’s slimy face. That meant that there wasn’t anything that Jason could use to decipher where the video was taken. For all he knew, the video could be completely useless and had been taken in the motel room.

 _“But that doesn’t matter now. You’re here and reunited with your family! How sweet. But if you want to see them alive again… then you better do what I say.”_ The demon continued speaking, his amused expression quickly dropping to reveal something more openly sinister. The camera shook slightly as it was placed on what might have been a table but was most likely some sort of tripod or stand. There was an awkward moment where the demon was trying to zoom out and focus the camera, but it just put him more on edge.

He stepped back from the camera to reveal a dank and dark room. The walls were covered in grime and possibly blood. It was almost a greenish coloured brick and it looked very damaged, as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to the wall. The ground was disgusting and covered in a thin layer of dirty water. The demon itself was standing in the middle of three wooden chairs. Those chairs just happened to have the three missing Winchesters duct taped to them.

John looked to be the worst off with a black eye and a bloody nose while Sam just had some minor bruises. Adam looked uninjured which made Jason sigh in relief, but they were all unconscious and taped with an almost ridiculous amount of duct tape. _“So here they are! Still alive and everything. If you want them to stay that way, you’re going to come and meet me on the 5 th at the old ice rink downtown. I’ve… convinced the teen working the nightshift to let us… borrow it for the night. I’ll be waiting~” _he sing-songed playfully as he left the frame.

The camera rested on the three unconscious Winchesters for another moment before the feed abruptly cut off. Jason growled before slamming his hand on the table in frustration. All it took was a quick glance at the calendar in the corner of the laptop to reveal that it was indeed the 5th and it was already evening so if he wanted to get there in time – and he highly doubted that the demon would be willing to wait or him – he’d have to hurry.

He grabbed the angel blade and his standard weapons before hoping on the motorcycle. If he called the others while he was on the way there, maybe they’d be able to get there in time. He patched into the com link as soon as he left the cave. “B, I’m going to need some reinforcement.” He snapped, practically flying down the streets as he sped towards the ice rink.

What a place for a show down… but admittedly it wasn’t the oddest place that a showdown had taken place in Gotham. But also… what the fuck was he supposed to do now? For a while all he get was static from the com link and he resisted the urge to panic. He was a grown ass man now (let’s just forget the fact that he’d only been resurrected for less than 3 years and he was only 20) and he shouldn’t be freaking out.

He’d been a vigilante since he was 10. He should be used to this by now.

But somehow this was different. He hadn’t felt this much panic since that one time that Dick had been kidnapped. Like seriously, this familial shit was a load of crap. But he shouldn’t care all that much? He really shouldn’t, considering he sort of hated the Winchesters and he hadn’t seen John or Sam since he was 9. That’s a long ass time.

But, Sam and Adam were just teens. He was used to seeing all the harshness of Gotham’s children, but spending that one day with Adam and Sam was really… different. They both came from different backgrounds that to anyone else would seem like your typical hard life (Sam being raised on the road to be a murderer, and Adam growing up with a single mother in a bad neighborhood) but they still maintained their innocence.

It was incredible.

Sure there was a certain amount of innocence in the street kids that Jason encountered – the streets were nowhere near as bad as they used to be now that there was a stronger vigilante presence in the lower areas of Gotham (cough*him*cough) – but that doesn’t mean that they are a good place to be after… well at all. They were aware of the cruelty of the world, or they were beginning to be, at the very least.

Adam and Sam were different. They still acted like petulant teens and still believed in the good in people. Sam even had his head wrapped around the foolish idea that the only bad things in the world were monster related. He didn’t kill humans. _John_ didn’t kill humans. It was beneath a hunter, or so he’d claimed long ago. Well. What did that make Jason?

He was broken out of his panic by the crackle of his com just as he pulled around in front of the rink. “We’ll be there shortly, Jaybird. What’s the situation?”


	13. The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Final Chapter

_He was broken out of his panic by the crackle of his com just as he pulled around in front of the rink. “We’ll be there shortly, Jaybird. What’s the situation?”_

 

* * *

  

Jason took a deep breath before he frantically whispered everything he could. He quickly parked his motorcycle in as hidden a place as possible, pulling out one of his hand guns and holding it in one hand in front of him. The other, pulled out the angel blade. He didn’t know if it would work, but it was going to be their best shot at getting them out of there. “I’m going in now, get your asses over here, fast.” He whispered, pushing the door open slowly.

“Be careful Jaybird. We’re a block away. We’ll circle around and try to free the Winchesters while you cause a distraction.”

Jason crept down the halls, holding his gun in front of him in a pathetic excuse for a security blanket. Luckily, it didn’t take long for him to find the rink, even if it had been a while since he’d been in this building. He cursed internally when he saw what was waiting for him. There was a group of men and women of all ages standing in various locations on the ice. The three kidnapped Winchesters were sitting slumped on the ice, held in rope bindings. Well, Sam and John were struggling to untie theirs, while Adam was unconscious in nothing but a simple pair of handcuffs. He must not have posed much of a threat.

Sam and John were both placed on opposite ends of the ice, guarded by a demon each, however the head honcho himself, the Yellow Eyed Demon. The man looked just as pathetic and unassuming as he’d always been, but as opposed to his ordinary pedophile druggie… _aura_ , now there was something just a little more sinister than that. Just by looking at him (and ignoring his supernatural yellow eyes) you could tell that he wasn’t human. He was a different type of monster. What really stood out to Jason though, was the ever present shadow, even when the room had no lighting.

Of course that wasn’t the case here, as with all ice rinks, it was seemingly well lit. Seemingly, because any light goes rather far with the cold white of the ice itself. At one point, the building might have been in good condition, however this was lower Gotham. And since it was lower Gotham, the lights were in a disarray. Some were smashed and hanging by the electrical cords. The walls were grimy too, and there was litter everywhere. Under the years of grim on the frickin’ walls, there was shitty graffiti.

Yup. That’s lower Gotham.

But back to the matter at hand because his biological family was about to get murdered and he was the only one who was standing in the way.

Fucking. Perfect.

 

“So… I’m here.” He says awkwardly, inwardly wincing at how fucking _stupid_ he sounds (usually he was pretty good with witty pre-battle banter, but for some reason it seems to have escaped him) but plowing on anyways because he’s here for a reason dammit. The sleaze ball raised an eyebrow, clearly just as unimpressed with him as Jason was with himself. “What do you want?”

The demon smiled, its eyes flashing the acidic yellow that gave it its name. “Why Jason! Maybe I just want to catch up!” he said in an overly offended tone, clearly mocking him. At Jason’s deadpan expression, the demon continued. “But fine. I’ll make you a deal,” he said, picking at his ripped nails. “You hand over that silly little dagger you have there, and I give you back your family.

Jason frowned, glancing around the room, taking into consideration the placement of the demons, and the placement of his own family – both biological and other.

“No deal.”

John started spitting curses, while Sam just stared at him with a slightly betrayed look. Jason did his best to ignore it, subconsciously flipping the knife in a sign that Dick would know to be ‘move ahead’. The demon just frowned, amusement dancing in his eyes. “Pity. I really thought you’d reconsider. Boys? Kill them.” He ordered.

For a moment, Jason thought that they wouldn’t be able to move in time, but as he raised his gun to shoot the demon nearest to Sam in order to stall him, the bat family fell down onto the ice, quickly taking out the demons near his family. Tim made quick work of Sam’s bindings, giving him a small knife and shoving him towards Adam.

Dick, cut off John’s restraints as Bruce and Jason kept the demons at bay. Sam was content to stay near the side of the wall after dragging Adam far enough back that he wouldn’t be involved in the brawl. But it was obvious that John was just itching to fight. Not even bothering to look over his shoulder, Jason tossed the gun he was using over his shoulder in John’s direction, trusting that he would catch it. Then he pulled out another gun (because he always kept multiple on him – just in case)

 

* * *

 

Jason panted heavily as he stabbed another demon that was thrown his way by Dick. He’d stopped paying attention to most of the things that were happening around him in favour of making sure that he didn’t miss any of the slightly dazed demons that his family was tossing his way.

John, of course, was completely ignoring the fact that Jason was the only one who has the weapon that could kill the demons dead. And instead of helping the others with sending downed demons his way, he was just shooting the hosts in the head and moving them on, making his way toward the Y.E.D with a single minded purpose that betrayed his personal investment in the end of that particular demon’s days.

Perfect. Just. Perfect.

So Jason had to go to the effort to follow John around and stab ‘em for a couple of seconds. Total waste of time. Why did the whole blade smite thing take so long to fucking work. It was stupid, but at least Bruce was being useful here and not complaining. But even with having to waste seconds on each demon (hey he was used to instantaneous death at this point) there was only so many demons. Soon enough, they were all just breathing heavily and scanning the room frantically. Sam was leaning against one of the walls, Tim in front of him in a protective stance.

John was still holding the gun Jason had given him, waving it around frantically like a fucking idiot. Bruce and Dick were sweeping the dead bodies and making sure that they were indeed dead and not just playing possum. But they all forgot the main issue. The Yellow Eyed Demon was just standing back and _watching_ as they killed demon after demon. Enjoying it too.

He was made aware of this fact when the demon began slow clapping. “Well, well, well, didn’t think that you’d actually do it. Did Daddy dearest let you off the hook? I thought you didn’t _kill_.” He mocked, grinning slyly at Bruce. Then he turned in a move so reminiscent of the Joker, Jason nearly did a double take. Nearly. Then, he chose to point at John. “And you,” he sneered, “well aren’t you just a little too trigger happy. You don’t care as long as it isn’t human… anymore. But your eldest doesn’t care about that, now does he?”

John raised his arm and pulled the trigger. Wasting what was probably his last bullet on the demon that had killed his wife.

The Y.E.D looked down at his chest as blood began to blossom from its chest. “Oh it’s going to take a lot more than that to kill _me._ ” he hissed. _“But A for effort.”_ They all stood stunned for about a split second, staring back and forth between John, his still smoking gun, and the demon; but then the demon was moving and then a sharp gasp echoed through the room. Poor Adam who had been doing his best to stay out of the way had suddenly been drawn back into the fray by the very demon they had been trying to avoid. The still bleeding Y.E.D grinned crookedly at them as he held his bloodied hand around the youngest Winchester’s throat.

“Bet you’d thought that you’d won.” It said, its breath surprisingly labored for possessing a meat sack. It wasn’t like the actual demon was affected by its host’s injuries. It tilted its head sharply to the side as it laughed wetly, blood spilling from his lips and dripping onto a terrified Adam’s shoulder.

Adam, was staring wide eyed at them, as he panicked and grabbed weakly at the demon’s iron grip with his handcuffed hands. “You thought Baby Winchester was safe.” The demon pulled the gun he had in his hand and held it up to Adam’s head. It was shaking with slight tremors as its tense finger was a hairs width away from pulling the trigger. “One move and the little one dies.” It hissed. They all froze; no one dared to even breathe.

Jason frantically tried to piece together a plan that would save Adam, but coming up short with every idea that flew through his head. Normally he would just try to shoot the offender, however he wasn’t willing to bet that he would be faster than a demon. And the only reason that the other bullet had hit him was because he was honestly too busy paying attention to Jason to notice John.

He might have tried it on one of the ordinary villains that he fought, but he wasn’t willing to bet with Adam’s life. Not with a demon who had _fucking telepathic powers._

Apparently John didn’t have the same reservations, because he straight up raised his arm and shot at the bastard.

What. The. Fuck.

Father of the fucking year. The Y.E.D cocked his head to the side in an eerie way that should not have been humanely possible. Think Carrie White and put the stare on an old pedophile’s face. He grinned as the bullet froze an inch in front of his face. “Oh dear,” it giggled, “You shouldn’t have done that.” His sing song tone of voice was so reminiscent of the Joker it was surprising.

With a single motion, it cocked the gun and-

**BANG**

 

Brains and blood had flown across the ice. It was like the breath had been knocked violently from his lungs. He’d seen death before – heck he’d been the cause of so much death that it was almost silly – but it never ceased to horrify him when it was a child. And for all the posturing Jason had done when he was that age, he knew full well that Adam was a child. Adam, who was about to start high school and hadn’t even had his first girlfriend yet. Adam, who had just found out about the supernatural when his deadbeat dad showed up on his doorstep with his older half-brothers.

Adam who’d been dragged into this against his will.

Fuck.

But the demon barely had a second to grin evilly and open his mouth to gloat before Jason moved. It was almost instinctual; the response to a threat while admittedly, emotionally compromised. He whipped his arm around and flung the bloodied dagger straight at the demons face. With almost impossible speed and accuracy, the dagger flew through the air, nailing the demon right in the center of its forehead.

He froze in his position; arm outstretched and leaning forward like some idiot who doesn’t know how to fucking throw anything. For a moment, the Y.E.D stood for a moment, but then his body slowly crumpled, knocking Adam’s dead weight body to the ground as well. The thump echoed through the near silent room.

They sat in a stifling silence, breathing hard as they just _stare_ blankly at Adam’s corpse. He was young. Fuck. He was too fucking young to have just been collateral damage. This shouldn’t have happened. Jason clenched his fists tightly as he resisted the urge to… he doesn’t really know what exactly. The silence held for a long time. Long enough for Adam’s blood to spill across the ice and to dry across the cold surface. Long enough for the adrenaline to leak from them and leave them empty.

Dick had long ago fallen to his knees, not caring for the other blood in the room. The muffled thump of his knees hitting the ice barely even phased anyone. Surprisingly – or not if you really think about it – it was John and Tim who broke out of their reverie first. They began looking over the corpses and eliminating all possibly implicating bits of evidence; with Tim taking care to plant some fake evidence. (Never let it be said that the bats didn’t know how to cover up murders. Even if they were against killing, it doesn’t mean that it hasn’t happened. And in Gotham, it had become a necessary skill for the more morally gray Robins.)

Barbara joined Dick in a kneeling position on the ice as he silently watched Adam’s chilled corpse in despair. It always hit them the hardest whenever they lost a life. After all, they were probably the two most well-adjusted of the batfamily.

Sam just stood by the edge of the rink staring straight ahead in one of the most lost ways possible. His eyes were blank and slightly glazed over, staring unfocused in Adam’s general direction. That's when an odd noise began to echo through the uncomfortable silence. It was a dull ringing, like that from a cell phone. Nobody moved to pick it up at first, and the tone ended abruptly; the person who called having hung up after not getting an answer.

The phone rang again, and Jason couldn't take it anymore. He slowly moved forward, stepping around corpses until he reached Adam's. He knelt deftly, pulling the offending cellular device from the boy's pocket. He backed up a couple steps, not wanting to kneel beside corpses for this. He flipped over the phone, but before he could decide whether it would be a good idea to pick up or not, the decision was taken from him when the call went to voicemail. Too startled to do anything else, the message played out loudly for everyone in the rink to hear.

 

_“Um hey! We've been trying to reach you for a while now, I didn’t know that you were away, but when you can come to the phone can you call us back? Uh… I’m really not used to doing this… you usually pick up. Is everything okay, Adam?_

_Yeah! You usually pick up buddy! What’s up with that?_

_Shut UP, Kyle. I’m the one holding the phone so you can just sit down and shut up while I leave a message._

_Fucking try me asshat._

_FuCK yOU._

_Whatever, so we haven’t heard from you in like a week. That’s a long time to not talk to your friends, Adam. Shame on you. Anyways, we’re meeting up on Thursday ‘cause the summer is almost over. We’re gonna be in high school soon, can you believe it? So um… just give us a call back when you can, okay?_

_Byyyyyyyyyye!”_

The message cut out with a suddenly deafening click. Jason turned around in a flash and punched the Plexiglas wall behind him, letting out a wordless yell or rage. “Fuck!” he curses angrily, clutching his hand, very nearly crushing the cell phone in his hand but remembering it at the last second; thinking that he should control his temper. But then the phone began to ring once again in his hand and he fucking lost it. Before anyone could move to speak he whipped his arm back and launched the phone across the rink, smashing it against the ice.

 

It stopped ringing.

 

 

Sam joined Dick and Barbara on the ground.

“We need to go.” Jason said, his voice thick because _dammit._ This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Bruce nodded and whirled out of the rink along with Tim. Dick and Barbara rose quietly and nudged Sam with them, carefully and silently leading the teen out of the building. A silent vigil. Only Jason and John remained now.

With Sam gone, Jason briskly walked towards the Y.E.D’s corpse, bending over and gingerly poking the cold body. He kneeled beside the head of the host, staring with a blank mask at the wound in the middle of its head. He inched forward, taking the hilt of the blade that pierced through its forehead gently in his right hand. Then in complete contrast to his former actions, he violently ripped the blade from the offending skull.

He lazily looked at the blood stained silver metal before wiping the blade off on the body’s tattered clothing. It wasn’t like it was worth scavenging since it was covered in blood; even before that it wasn’t exactly in the best condition. He looked around the room, taking in all the other hosts again. They didn’t look like your average civilian. It wasn’t like anyone would mourn them. There was no point in cleaning up the evidence.

“Was your revenge worth it?” he says quietly, looking at Adam’s face, frozen forever with his last expression; a mix of shock, horror, desperation, and helplessness. Adam had actually thought he would be saved.

As expected, John didn’t say anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I feel like I owe you guys an apology. I realize that this was kind of a really rushed story and I'm sorry for that. Honestly I didn't really like this storyline when I wrote it, so it wasn't as good as the first one. No, I'm not going to be re-writing this one; however, there WILL be a third version of this au. The next one will take place where instead of going to Ben and Lisa when Sam is in hell, Dean/Jason will return to Gotham. 
> 
> I hope that you don't hate the ending, and I'm sorry it took so long. But it was really hard to get through this chapter.

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment and subscribe! If you have any ideas then they're welcome because this story currently doesn't have an outline and I'd rather like one.
> 
> Next chapter will cover the Winchester side of the story.


End file.
